Scythe
by TheMangoYeti
Summary: When Margo is sent to a strange land created by Zeus to teach the gods of human connections, she doesn't realize the mess she's gotten into.
1. Chapter 1

Life is kind to no one, but we get to choose to live on or not. To thrive, to win. 'We were born to die' is cheesy and all, but after hitting our late twenties our cells actually start dying at a faster rate than our reproduction. Every day we start dying slowly, until we're gone.

Sorry if that started off too emo for your liking. Let me start over: I'm Margaret Harper, and I'm an incoming senior, err, I mean 'third year' at some school in Japan I haven't bothered to learn the name of yet.

Let me explain.

My dad and mom are big shots at some corporation that make medical machinery. They have these long, willowy fingers that can do almost anything and everything. I feel as if they could craft an entire airplane just by their own hands. They go to whatever country that needs new advancements or fixing, and I go along with them with my 2 other sisters, Marcela and Melita.

Yes. We all have 'M' names, which is great. Now, I'm the oldest of the bunch, with Marcela and Melita being twins 5 years younger than me at 12 years old. They had hair as long as mine, so I'd always be forced to wake up extra early to do their hair, only for them to have it taken out when they come back from school. It took some practice to get good at doing hair since I had these stubby sausage fingers.

Even then, I'll never be good enough.

Skilled fingers run in our family. Marcela is a naturally skilled artist, able to paint the most intricate scenes and draw the most beautiful pictures.

Melita played the violin, always composing and playing new things that could send Beethoven into a corner.

And me? I had short, stubby fingers that couldn't do any of that. So, naturally, I turned to an art that didn't require me to have elegant, long fingers.

Languages.

Understanding languages became important to me when we started moving. I soon realized wherever there was a problem or a new thing that was being called for medically, I'd have to move there to understand the language.

I lived in America for 5 years, before moving to France for my parents to develop a vaccine. I learnt the language there, and studied it hard to be as fluent as possible in it. I found out that we'd be hopping over to Germany 3 months before I turned 9, so I started studying that language too.

Studying languages became easier and easier while the time gaps became smaller and smaller. Germany to Italy took 2 years, and I mastered Italian quickly before I turned 13. Italy to Guatemala was easy when I was 14, as Italian has some of the same words as Spanish. When I was 15 I went to Spain, which was easy as the dialects were easy to master and it had the same language as Guatemala. When I was 16 we went to the UK, I had once again noted a difference.

My siblings' artworks could be understood in any language; as well as my parents' medical engineering works.

I once again was different with my understanding of languages, to see the difference from every aspect. I immersed myself in the literacy and in the culture, seeing the differences. I loved the literature and history of each culture and language, as each aspect is different from the rest. And they all connected in the end, like one, giant, beautiful puzzle.

When I was 16 in the UK, I saw online that Japan was looking to develop new medical technology, and I knew where we would be heading next. So, I did what I do best, and I studied the language.

Japanese was different from the other languages with the words, the pronunciations and the culture, and it was by far the hardest language. But nevertheless, a year later when my parents uttered the word 'Japan' at the dinner table, I was prepared.

Now, you may be asking why I'm suddenly giving this narration of my life. This is because of the cultural factor, and why I'm standing at the back of the gym as the balding principal announced the second years moving to third years (which I believe is the equivalent of Junior to Senior year).

My parents had sent me over a week early to start my 'immersion,' AKA go to this ceremony. Today was a Friday, and next Monday I'd be starting as a third year.

Everyone started walking out of the auditorium and I was snapped out of my train of thought. Following the herd of people, I was only spared a passing glance because of my foreign looks, but they always looked away in the end anyway.

I was above the average height in Japan for girls, towering at 166 cm, but I was still shorter than most men here. Nevertheless I pushed through, stumbling out of the way and onto the sidewalk.

With a sigh, I straightened out my clothes as I began walking in the direction of the local gas station, craving some M&M's. Cherry blossoms were fluttering from nearby trees around the pathway I was on, as a single tear rolled down my face.

Arching a brow in confusion, I swiped away at it hastily. I've cried before for no reason, usually tears will just roll down my eyes, so this wasn't strange. Maybe I was crying at how that Japan had so many damn Cherry Blossom trees everywhere, or maybe I was having some weird pollen allergy.

Shrugging to myself, I turn the corner into the gas station where I see some a few boys in there with the school's uniform.

Ignoring them, I made my way over to the candy aisle, looking it up and down. No matter where I went, those color-coated goodness drops were there.

"Why is there so many damn KitKats?" I mutter to myself in German, which I bet not a lot of people in Japan speak. German was a fun language to speak in, especially since the words and swears are fun to shout.

If you're a Japanese person who speaks German, kudos to you. The only reason I'm speaking to myself is because I was just finishing reading up a German novel.

Satisfied with finding the brown bag of M&M's, I grab 2 off the shelf, walking over to the cash register, passing them a 1,000¥ bill. They accept it, before promptly giving me the change. Plopping it in my tote bag, I walk out of the store as I feel the eyes of the boys on me. I noticed they had the same uniform as the school that I was going to next Monday.

Shivering slightly, I turn to look at them, giving them a quick wave.

 _"Are you at the nearby school?_ " I ask, and they give me a confused look.

"Are you drunk?" One of them asks while the others titter a laugh, and I arch a brow in confusion before I realize I was speaking in German.

Damn it! This happens way too often!

"Do you guys go to the nearby school?" I ask, correcting myself in Japanese. They nod, a tall one with hair parted down the middle giving me a smile.

"Yeah, we'll be third years."

"Oh cool! So will I, my name's Harper Margaret," I state, making sure to switch my last and first name around.

"Cool, we'll see you Monday, Harper. I'm Shi Ai." the leader replies, giving me a slight smile. He was handsome, and I wouldn't mind getting to know him better. I begin walking off, heading back onto the road as I see a purple hair girl and her friends walking with the girl uniform. I guess they'll be at my school, too.

Ignoring them, I start walking down the road to the apartment I was staying at with my family. We usually stayed in houses, but this time we decided to live in the central city where there were more apartments.

 **"MARGARET HARPER"**

Turning around to see who called my name, all I was met with was a gust of wind blowing in my face from the wrong direction.

Japanese weather is so weird.

Turning back around, I kept walking, making my way up the apartment steps as I unlocked the door.

Stepping inside and hopping around the boxes, I set my tote bag on the counter, slipping off my sandals to stretch out my toes. The three room apartment with a kitchen was super nice for a last-minute find, and I get my own room!

But I have to share a bathroom with my sisters. Oh well-

Speaking of my room, there seemed to be a weird glow coming from it. Grabbing my tote bag again and holding it above my head, ready to strike the intruder.

Entering my room full of boxes, I didn't see the glow anymore. Huh.

Cracking my back, I set down the tote bag as I open up a box, pulling out pajamas.

More specifically my favorite pajamas with chili-pepper-patterned pajama pants that were super soft with my t-shirt. It proudly displayed a chili pepper that said 'Smoking Hot!' on it in English with cut out sleeves. Slipping in it and out of my clothes, I kick the others aside, grabbing a hair tie and throwing my long hair in a messy bun. Taking the pajama pant strings, I had to tie them pretty tight so they don't slip off my frame because they were originally 'male's pajamas.' The leggings I had worn made my butt feel super sweaty, but now I feel better. Letting out a sigh of relief, I plug in the fan in the room, putting my face in front of it to get some cool hair.

I was kind of average, body-terms. I had a DD cup, which isn't that big of a deal in some countries. I had a mostly-flat stomach, which is pretty healthy. My legs were muscular from running, yet I had no upper arm strength.

This meaning that doing a pushup was suicide.

Arching my back again as it let out a satisfying crack, I saw a glow coming from another box in my room. Arching a brow, I padded my way over to it, tearing open the cardboard flaps to reveal a glowing...

"I don't remember owning a scythe?" I mutter aloud, looking at the deadly weapon that lay before me, bathing in a blue light. Hesitantly, I reach out towards the handle as a zolt of electricity shocked me. Lightning flashed around me as I jumped back, slinging the totebag around me as if it would somehow protect me.

"How can the neighbors not hear this?!" I wonder aloud, as the scythe starts floating up from the box. Taking a step back in fear of it starting to fly around the room, it glowed an even brighter blue, before flashing a bright white and enveloping the world around me. Shielding my eyes with my arms, a gust of wind sent my hair flying about as the ponytail slipped out. Peeking between my arms, a bolt of electricity seemed to come straight towards me, and I was immobile as it striked me, hurtling me towards unconsciousness.

* * *

"Ugh, Melita I swear if you're trying to tickle me again with a feather to get me to pee myself it won't work," I grumble sleepily, feeling something touching my nose. Opening my eyes and crossing them slightly, a pure white bunny with a white and red roped collar sat before me on my chest.

Sitting up in shock as I clutched the rabbit to my chest, I look around me. I was on a yellow sun-tiled cool floor with floral life around me and open windows. Plants in those little hanging pots hung from the ceiling, as birds of beautiful arrays of colors chirped outside the open windows.

Picking up the rabbit, who looked up at me with yellow eyes, I start stroking it. "Toto, I don't think we're in Japan anymore...let's go find your owner and hope they can get us out of here." I grumble, flipping open my totebag that had landed a few feet from me, placing the newly named Toto in my bag.

Looking to where I had been laying previously, I see the weird scythe that got me here.

"Screw you," I mumble, squatting down and pointing at the scythe accusingly. "You got me here, and I have to be back at school before Monday or my parents will kill me."

Looking closer at the scythe, it was a dark teal color with weird engravings around the curved blade. And the handle wasn't wooden, it was made of the same material with a winding gold coil around it.

Almost as if it heard me insult it, it started floating, warping shape as it shrank. Glaring at it, partially due to it being so damn bright, it flew towards my ear, curving around it like an ear wrap.

"How adorable, a scythe taped to my ear," I mutter, trying to tear it off. It didn't budge, feeling as if someone gorilla glued it there. Sighing, I roll my eyes.

"You're a little asshole for an inanimate object, y'know. As long as you didn't whisper death chants in my ear while we sleep, I won't pull a Van-Gogh you and chop you off completely," I threaten, standing up and stroking the rabbit on my bag.

"Where are we off to first, huh buddy?" I ask, as I begin walking down the hallway, tiles cool on my feet. Whoever brought me here should have done it before I changed into my pajamas, but at least I'll have some pajamas here with me.

Wait, isn't my phone in here too? Smiling like an idiot, I reach into my bag's side pouch, pulling out my phone with a quick "Hurrah!'\"

No service.

"Ugh," I complain, walking down the hallway. "First I'm dragged to a place in my pajamas without shoes, second a death scythe is glued to my ear, and now I don't have any service?!"

"Another one? I pity you both, in fact, I pity you all," a melancholy voice states from behind me, and my eyes widen.

"Don't touch me!" I yelp, fearing for my life as I whirled around with a roundhouse kick, knocking my assaulter in the face with my bare foot. With an "OOF!" they fall to the floor, as I turn to look at the emo person.

They had pale, ivory skin with blackish-grey hair and blood red eyes with pointy ears. I don't care what body mods this dude has, but if he's rich enough to get body mods like that he probably owns a large company. And if he owns a large company that means he has connections and a large probability of bribing our way out of here.

"I-I wasn't planning on, as it would bring you misfortune," he mutters, rubbing his forehead. "And I am in the same boat as you; for I do not know where we are as well."

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" I mutter, repeating it in over and over in Japanese."Are you okay?" I ask, holding out my hand as he ignores it, standing up by himself as he brushes off himself.

"I brought this misfortune upon myself," he mutters, completely ignoring me. Placing my hands on my hips, I take a step closer, grabbing his face with my hand.

"What are you doing?!" He hisses, trying to pull himself back as I look at the area I kicked him. I press on it lightly with my thumb, and he hisses a bit in pain.

"Yeesh, it will definitely swell, but probably not bruise. Put some ice on it," I note, reaching into my tote bag and pulling out a packet of M&M's. "Here, you can have my favorite candy as an apology."

Placing it in his hand, he looked at me as if I was crazy. "M&M's? What are these weird, big-eyed circles?"

What is this guy, Patrick Star? Does he live under a rock? Maybe this strange place where I've been kidnapped to doesn't have M&M's?

"They're the best chocolate candy ever, and that's just the packaging. Inside is little colored candy droplets. I'll see you around, at least, I hope I do. Maybe we can become friends then, if you completely forget I roundhouse kicked you... But for now, I've got to find a way out of here, and I'll come back for you!" I rant out a promise, looking into his red eyes as his cheeks darken for a moment, and he looks away.

"Don't bother, I'll ruin the escape anyway." He begins to walk away, but I grab his hand, pulling him back to face me.

"No man left behind," I promised, "that includes you. I, Margo Harper, solemnly swear to that!" Margo was a common nick name I used, or else I sounded like a formal old woman.

I let go, turning from him and running away to find solutions so we can both run away from this place. Besides, if there's two witnesses the police might believe us more!

Running out to the garden and to the center, I see a large, beautiful golden gazebo and a big smile is placed onto my face. Perfect!

"Alright Toto, I'm going to leave my bag here. I don't really want you to run, because I don't want to be alone. But in the case you do run away, make sure to find other survivors and help them, alright?" I ask, looking Toto in his yellow eyes as I set my tote bag down.

Who am I kidding? The rabbit probably doesn't understand me.

Giving the rabbit a quick stroke from his head to his back, I back away from the bag and start climbing to the top of the gazebo.

Birds begin chirping and fluttering around the gazebo, as I sit on top of it, looking around the garden of yellow and white flowers, petals in full spread towards the sun. Inhaling the sweet scents, I roll up the hems of my chili-pepper-patterned pajama pants so they're shorts.

Beginning to feel a throbbing from my left foot, I prop it up to look at it to see a pebble had been stuck and dented itself in the callouses of my feet. Chuckling, I pick at it and flick it away from me.

Wherever I lived, there was always some form of beach or a lake. My feet became calloused as I scraped myself on the rockier beaches as I swam in the ocean waves. Heck, I was on swim team for a while until school work got too hard when I switched schools and curriculums. Then I started running on my own time, which was fun as well.

Standing up on top of the gazebo, I look around to see if I could spot an exit, but I wasn't high enough. But there's a tower nearby, so I can always find a way to get to its top-

"What are you doing up there?" A smooth voice calls out, and I whirl my head in shock, feet slipping out from under me as I begin falling off the gazebo.

"AHHH-oompf!" I land with a large _OOMPH!_ on top of the owner of the voice, knocking them down into the field of flowers as I pinned them to the ground. Their blue eyes stared at me in wonder as my cheeks tinted pink, my black hair creating an inky curtain between our faces and the rest of the world.

"I'm so sorry! This is the second time I've injured someone today!" I apologize, rolling off the blonde man as I sink into the flowers next to him.

"Second time?" He laughs, a twinkle in his sky blue eyes.

"Yes, second time! I roundhouse kicked a guy with black hair earlier when I thought he was going to attack me, and then I landed on top of you!" I rant, standing up as I plucked the flower petals from my hair.

"Don't worry," he says smoothly, giving me a charming smile that probably gets ALL the girls wherever he's from, "I'd probably fall to the ground, regardless of you landing on top of me or not. I'm pretty clumsy."

Oof, he sounds a bit like a fuck boy. Oh well, as long as he's nice to me and stays in his own lane, we won't have issues.

"Alright, I'm sorry for that," I say, choosing on being nice to him as a polite factor.

"Stay still for a moment," I requested, leaning forward and his face goes blank. "What are you-?"

"There!" I finished, plucking a yellow petal from his hair, holding it in front of him. "This was in your hair. It would've bothered my all day if I left it in there."

He smiled again, taking it from my hands. "Thank you," he says, giving me a smile as I turned from him, completely ignoring him now.

"Alright, now where's my bag?" I mumble in German, taking the tote and noticing that Toto was gone.

Oh darn it! Now I'm all alone with Goldilocks!

"Is there something you're looking for?" he asks, and I look up with a sigh.

"I found a cute white rabbit here, and named them Toto. I believe they're off searching for others now, but I hope I can find them later," I explain, slinging the tote around my shoulders again.

"What's your name?" He asks, and I flash him a smile. "Margaret Harper, but call me Margo. I'll see you around, Goldilocks!" I smile, bounding away from the strange blonde man before he can say anything.

Making my way to the tower, I climb up the winding stone staircases that lead to the top, revealing scenery only found in fantasy lands. Fertile green fields, crystalline oceans, floating islands...

We're definitely not in Japan anymore.

Looking at a vase of flowers on the patio with a ribbon tied around it, I quickly unlace the ribbon and tie it around my hair in a low ponytail. Good, now it'll stay out of my face. It seems like the only logical way out of this island would be on boat, but if there's floating islands around us that means we're on a floating island...

So there's no escape unless you have an airplane, which I can't pull out from my tote bag. So I'm stuck.

Hmph.

This place is obviously magical, but I have no idea why I'm here. The idea of magic doesn't really bother me, since I've been to places where they believed magic healed instead of medicine (in some cases their methods actually worked).

And this means if I was brought here by magic, they must've exuded some form of effort to get me here; thus meaning they won't let me slip out so easily.

A smirk on my face, I get on the ledge of the building. "Alright, Mr. Magic Man who brought me here, show me what you've got!" I yell out as wind begins to try to push me back from the ledge, and my smirk grows wider.

"Now I know you're listening!" I laugh, pushing against the wind as I jump off the ledge. The ground rapidly approaches as my grin widens, and I find myself giggling when a white light envelops me and I stand in a large room, a throne before me with a grumpy man on it. His hawk like eyes pierce through me, and he taps his foot impatiently.

"You're smart, for a human. You figured out something wasn't normal about this place," he states, and I throw my arms up. "Oh gee, it's not like there's obvious _floating islands_ to point that out to me!"

"And you figured that I wouldn't let you finish with your... leap of faith," he states, and I roll my eyes. "There was only a 25/75 chance I'd die! The 25 being I was high and imagining this."

"Well, you're not high. I am Zeus, Greek god of-"

"Freaking Zeus?!" I gasp, stumbling back in shock. "This is so cool! You got those little zappy-zaps-"

"You mean thunderbolts."

"-and the shapey thing-"

"You mean shape shifting?" He asks, morphing to a little kid. He was clearly enjoying that I know about him.

"And you cheated on your wife like a hella lot of times, even as an animal-"

"Silence mortal! I get it! You know about me!" Zeus cut me off with his booming voice, and I quickly shut my mouth.

"Listen," Zeus says, running his fingers through his hair as he switched back to his older form, "you're lucky I haven't turned you into a pig and thrown you off a mountain."

"Sorry," I mutter, not really meaning to offend the god of the heavens.

"Alright, I summoned you here to play a part in my master plan. Since the beginning of all time, humans have looked up to their gods and deities, worshiping, loving, and fearing them. Gods in return must love humanity, and this is their connection. However, the connection is wearing thin between the Heavens and the human realm. If this continues to spiral out of control at the same rate, a terrible future will be upon the gods AND humanity."

"What is that?" I ask quietly, as Zeus looks at me with his hawk eyes. "There is _no_ future," he states, and my eyes widen.

"So the fate of all humanity and deities rests upon my shoulders?!" I ask. I mean, this _is_ pretty overwhelming for a high school student!

"Not just you, you see I have brought the gods with the weakest connection to humanity here to educate them."

"Educate? This is a freaking school?!" I groan, and he nods, crossing his legs in the chair.

"An academy, as you will be staying here for a year to complete this task. You have met two of them already," Zeus says, as his staff glows golden as an image hangs over it.

"The Norse god Balder," Zeus says as Goldilocks appears on the screen, and I nearly roll my eyes. The ' _Prince Charming'_ of Fuckboys is a god.

Great.

"And the Greek god Hades." Zeus' image changes to the emo boy, icepack over his cheek as he munches on M&M's, eyes widening at their delicious taste before pouring the bag into his mouth; giving him chipmunk cheeks. I wince slightly, remembering inflicting damage upon the poor emo.

But hey, at least he's enjoying those M&M's.

The image flickers to nonexistence, as Zeus looks at me. "There is another human here who is unknowingly going to teach them of human emotion, such as love, faith and compassion. You will be teaching them of establishing connections."

"Connections?" I question, and Zeus nods. "You are the best human possible for this role. You've learned languages for the reason of seeing different aspects and making connections. You are always ready to think outside the box."

"No, I like staying inside the box. Heck, just send me home now, I can't think outside the box for my life-" I start, and Zeus arches a brow.

"You literally jumped off a building ledge to see where it gets you," Zeus states, and I shrug. "So?"

"You climbed on top of a gazebo to see if you could find a way out."

"That was an idiotic move on my part, especially when there was a tower I completely missed," I mumble, and Zeus rolls his eyes.

"Regardless, this is your duty. And you cannot return home until it is completed," he states, and I cross my arms.

"So I save humanity, and then I go home?"

"Yes."

"Alright," I let out a sigh, as I turn from Zeus and begin walking away, sliding past the door and down the staircase, into a man with purple hair walking next to a blue haired boy, who donned a particularly piss-sour face expression.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" I state, backing up from the purple haired boy, who looked at me dully with golden eyes. In his hands was-

"Toto!" I squeal, as the white rabbit looks in my direction and jumps into my arms. What can I say? I've always had a way with animals.

Which was another difference my family and I had. Birds always pooped on my family while they sang to me instead, bit them while nuzzling me, etc.

Of course, raccoons are a different story...I'll never forget what Henry the Raccoon did to me in the summer of 2005...

"Toto?" Growled the blue haired boy, and I looked at him. "Well, I found him and I didn't know his name so I called him Toto-"

"His name is Usamaro, and he's not yours, so don't ever try to steal him again!" The blue haired boy shouts, and I hand him over to the purple haired guy. "Gee, I'm sorry that you couldn't control your rabbit, blueberry."

"What did you say, uh, what's your name?" He angrily questions, and I roll my eyes.

"Find out for yourself, blue-ber-ry!" I sound out, and he angrily groans. Turning to the purple haired guy, I give a short bow.

"Sorry for having To- I mean, Usamaro jump towards me," I correct, "I hope we can be friends."

"Alright," he says blatantly, and I nod with a smile. He's pretty quiet, but seems nice anyway, unlike the blueberry person next to him.

Turning to the blueberry boy, I glare at him. "And if you accuse me of thievery, I'm going to cut two large circles on all of your clothing on the chest area, and turn those circles into placemats!"

I'm really bad at threats, and he arched a brow in confusion. "Huh?"

"You heard me!" I state, turning from them and walking away.

Muttering swears in German, I walked into the courtyard outside, leaning back on the stone fountain and trailing my hand back and forth in the water.

Who else is on this floating island? I met an emo, goldilocks, a womanizer, a quiet purple haired dude and an angry blueberry. Who else will be here?

"Hello~" A man with spiky red hair at the top with hair hanging below it and emerald green eyes.

Good god, was that a mullet?!

"Do you have any wine on you?"

I pale as I shake my head no.

Add 'drunkard' to the list.

"I don't really have much on me," I state, sitting up and shuffling through my bag. "Pencils, pens, a notebook, a pack of candy, my useless phone, and a few hairbands..."

"Alright, thanks anyway, cutie," He adds with a wink at the end, walking away smoothly. Rolling my eyes at the flirt, I stand back up. Great, another fuck boy, except this one seemed as if he was stoned and high.

"Well, there's goes my relaxation. I'm going to see if I can find a place to camp out in until Mr. Bruce Almighty calls me back in," I grumble, beginning to walk back into the building and in through the double doors.


	2. Chapter 2

Zeus dramatically walked down the staircase in his red snuggie, observing us all with flaming gold eyes.

"It seems everyone's here now," he announces, and I look around the room. There were some unrecognizable people among us, including a short-haired blonde and another blueberry-boy who was taller. Oh! And there was another girl!

Hopefully she's the other human, or else having boy talks with a goddess might be awkward.

"Welcome to my gardens," Zeus announces it, and I prop a hand on my hip. The way he phrased it he might as well have said 'Welcome to the rice fields muthafuc-'

"Cut the crap!" Angry Blueberry boy #1 yelled, and I rolled my eyes. I would totally yell at Zeus, but I didn't want to be electrocuted. "You're behind all of this?!"

"Japanese god of the seas, Susanoo," Zeus announces, looking directly at him. I roll my eyes, great, a sea god on an island. "Japanese god of the moon, Tsukuyomi."

Tsku had the rabbit! Wasn't the rabbit's name Usher?

No...I'll just keep calling it Toto in my head.

"Norse god of light, Balder," Zeus turns to the long haired blonde, and I look at the charming fuckboy. I bet allll of the girls here are going to fawn over him.

Wait, there's only the purple haired chic and I.

"Norse god of fire, Loki," Zeus looks at the red-head god, and I sigh. Couldn't this Loki look more like Tom Hiddleston?! And I bet this one is going to be playing a lot of pranks as a trickster god...

"Norse god of lightning, Thor," Zeus turns to the other blue guy, and I see the lightning bolt shaved into the side of his head. How appropriate...

But he's not Chris Hemsworth!

"Greek god of the Underworld, Hades," Zeus turns to his brother, who he placed here, and Hades looks away all emo-like. "Greek god of fertility, Dionysus," Zeus looks at the red head, and it suddenly makes sense why he asked me for wine.

"And god of the sun, Apollon," he looks at the short-haired blonde next to the purple haired girl, and I smile brightly. That means the purple-haired girl is a human, yes!

...and that Zeus was placing a harem of gods with two girls.

"You will all learn about humans in order to revive the ancient link between the gods and humanity," Zeus booms, and Loki gives a chuckle. "Do you think we'll obey you, Zeus?"

"Yeah! Return my brother and I to our world!" Susanoo yells, shaking his fist angrily at Zeus, "Or else..."

Blue streams of water, like a river flowing, twirled around Susanoo in an angry manner.

"There will be hell to pay," Loki added in, flames at his fingertips. I really wish I brought some marshmallows now...

The two gods launched themselves at Zeus, who side stepped them as the two opposing elements clashed, falling to the floor in defeat.

"There will be none of that, as it will destroy the academy," Zeus announces, raising his super-stick. "Therefore-"

A beam of light emitted from his staff, flowing over to each student and placing a piece of jewelry on them. Is this all some set up for Zeus to go 'every kiss begins with K?'

"What is this?!" Loki asks angrily, trying to take it off. Putting my hand by my ear and feeling the scythe wrap that was there, I wonder what mine was for.

I mean, I didn't have any powers that needed to be bound in the first place!

"No one can defy me here, because these shackles seal your divine power," Zeus finishes with a smirk, and my eye twitches. I've had enough!

"Alright, Mr. Zeus," I start, stepping forward, "this is bugging me for a multitude of reasons. For being a powerful god or whatever, blabbering about creating connections and all, you're _severing_ these people's connections to who they are! You're not even bothering to ask us to participate, hell, if you gave more than a 'to mend the bond' between humanity and deities we'd participate! If you want to mend a bond, you can't destroy others in the process!"

The room is silent for a moment, as Zeus looks at me with a hard-to-read expression on his face. "My orders are final," he eventually states, "and you will all comply to my orders. You will study humanity, and have a year to do so."

He gestures to a large, glass ball chandelier. "Fill this up in a year, and you can all go home. Your shackles will remove themselves when you earn the right to graduate. If you cannot, you will be stuck in this garden forever."

A man wearing a large blue coat on his shoulders stepped out of the shadows. He had hella good eyeliner skills. He must be an Egyptian...

"This is Thoth, god of knowledge. And he will be your instructor."

"And your classmates will be these spirits," Zeus announced, banging his stick as balls of light emerged from the ground, taking forms of people.

Thank god it won't be just the purple-girl and I, but these spirits...they're not real. Just husks...

"Kusanagi Yui, Margaret Harper," Zeus announces, and I look back. "Yeah?" I ask, and Zeus smirks.

"Your responsibility is to lead the gods to graduation. Is that clear?" He asks, as I nod, the other girl doing it too.

"Tomorrow morning you will gather in the morning to prepare for the afternoon's entrance ceremony," Thoth announced, as I sighed. I've never been to an entrance ceremony, I usually arrived after it occurred. Seems like Yui will be leading it. Kusanagi, Margaret, follow me."

With a sigh, I follow behind the white haired god with Yui besides me. Turning to her, a give her a smile. "I'm Margaret Harper, but call me Margo."

"That's your...first name?" She asks, and I give a nod. "I travel a lot, so wherever I go it's easy for them to just call me Margo."

"Then call me Yui," she states, "it's only fair for us to refer to each other's first names if I'm calling you Margo."

"Oh, so you're Japanese?" I ask, and she nods. "Yeah, I am. What are you?" She asks, and I think.

"Well, I was originally born in America, but my dad's from Argentina and my mom's from Brazil, so I'm a Latina. I kinda travel around the world with my family."

"Oh, really? That's so cool!" Yui states, and I smile. "Thanks!"

"So, do you speak Japanese and English?" She asks, and I nod. "Something like that."

I really don't talk about speaking multiple languages unless something's brought up about it. It's not that big of a deal.

"Zeus modeled this academy after human schools," Thoth interrupts as we look up at him. "All necessary facilities have been provided. Food is in the cafeteria."

"When we go home, what will our parents say? They'll know we'll be gone for a year, right?" I ask, and Thoth turns to me. "You will be brought back to the time you came from with the power of Chronos, the time god. If you graduate, that is." He smirks, and I roll my eyes.

'If you graduate that is,' I mimic him in my head. How hard will it be to graduate?

"I don't care if that's the case, it's not fair for him to willy-nilly bring us here-" Thoth turns, cutting me off as he pushes me against a wall, hand by my head as he looms over me.

"Zeus has the-"

"I DON'T CARE! GET OFF ME YOU PERVERT!" I yell, kneeing him in the gut and pushing him off me. As Thoth clutches his gut, I push him back. Yui gasps, but I ignore her.

"I know that Zeus is trying to mend the bond, but you can simply say that without pushing people against walls! In the human world, that's like coming onto someone! Ugh, I'm sorry if it hurts but you don't do that thing to girls!" I yell angrily, as Thoth stands up, dusting himself off.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to 'come on to you,'" he says through gritted teeth. We start walking again, and he leads us to a dorm.

"You're lucky there's two people, or else you would have gotten a smaller dorm. Your dorms are to the right," Thoth states, before walking away, leaving Yui and I at a door.

"A lot smaller?" We both ask, opening up the door as our jaw dropped. We were standing on a balcony-like top floor that overlooked the other floor, a wooden staircase separating the two. On the top floor there were two doors next to each other, and we opened them up to see two bedrooms.

"Woah," I say, and Yui nods. "This is bigger than my house!"

"Agreed," I say, closing the bedroom door as I ran down the stairs. There was a few couches surrounding a coffee table with magazines on it, and behind that was a kitchen, fridge and a pantry. There was a small four-person table next to that with chairs, as I look at the glass-wall that gave us a view of the sun setting.

"Woah, this is so pretty," I state, sliding open the glass door as Yui remained in the kitchen. On the patio was a hot tub with cup holders, and I smiled.

"Yui, have you ever had a midnight soak?"

"HELLO!" a voice announced, and I turned around to see that a little yellow-white doll was talking from the couch. "I'm Melissa!" the boy-doll announced, waving at us.

He looked like Scrump's cousin.

"Nice to meet you, Melissa," I say, sitting on the couch next to the yellow doll and shaking its hand, er, limbs. "I'm Margo."

"Nice to meet you, Mango."

My brow twitched as Yui laughed slightly, walking over to us, shaking Melissa's limb. "I'm Kusanagi Yui."

"Hello Kutanagi," Melissa says, and I playfully glared at Yui. Ha! Karma!

"Now, I am here to look after you! Zeus fashioned me from clay for this purpose!"

"Aren't dolls supposed to be made of stuffing on the inside?" I ask, poking Melissa in the belly. "Teehee! Stop that!" Melissa shouts, swatting my hand away, and I put them up guiltily. "Sorry..."

"It's alright. There was a little, er, mishap while creating my body, but I love it! Even though it's tiny, it's mobile! And I always win at hide and seek!" Melissa boasts proudly, and I nod slowly. "Right..."

"Regardless, I am your upperclassman. And I will look after you both! When you're troubled, you can cry on my shoulder," Melissa announces proudly, and I arch a brow.

"Are you supposed to get clay wet? If we get it too soft it'll be like mush," I tell Melissa, and they inhaled deeply through their mouth.

"Just rely on me!" Melissa says, clearly frustrated.

"Okay, thank you Melissa." Yui copies my action, as Melissa gives us a dopey grin.

"You're welcome!"

* * *

"I'll go to the school store and get us some swim suits so we can do a midnight soak," I tell Yui as I change out of my pajamas, putting them in the washing machine and changing into the uniform provided. God, why would Zeus make the uniforms a white blazer? I'll probably stain it...

"Alright! I'll make us some food," Yui shouts back as I wave a goodbye, exiting the dorms and heading to the school shop.

Walking inside, I see a short-haired blonde there, talking with the clerk. He sighs, clearly annoyed.

"Hey Blondie," I greet with a friendly wave, and he looks at me, a twinkle in his green eyes. "Margaret Harper, right?" He asks, and I nod.

"Yeah, but call me Margo," I respond, and he nods. "I'm Apollon," he smiles.

"Pleasure, what are you looking for at the school store?" I ask, and he sighs. "I'm looking for a book to understand humans more, but all they have is this, and it's in German!"

"Can you not read German?" I ask as he pulls out the book. "Not very well, I have no need to really understand it. Here, take a look at the book."

Passing it over to me, I look at the cover. "'Mein Kampf?' Why would you ever want to read this?!" I ask, holding up the horrid book as Apollon smiles.

"Because the man on the cover has a silly mustache!" Apollon smiles, and I shake my head, putting the book back on the counter. "You probably shouldn't read this book, Apollon. How about you go to the library? There's probably something better there," I inform, and he looks at me, a questionable expression on his face.

"Have you read this book before?"

"Yes," I reply, and he crosses his arms, a small smile placing his way on his face. "In Japanese?"

"No."

"So the original language?"

"Yes." The words slipped out of my mouth without me knowing, and Apollon grins. "So you understand humans from this book!"

"No, not at all," I sigh, as Apollon's smile fades. "Why not?"

"That human is cruel and malicious, I don't know why he would ever do those things. Just imagine him as an...an anti-Zeus. While Zeus is promoting unity between gods and humans, the man who wrote this book is talking of a superior race of humans," I hand the book back over to Apollon. "I can't stop you from reading the book, but if you read it before getting to know humans, you'll think of us as a cruel race because of one person."

"I don't think you could ever be a cruel person," Apollon says, giving me a final smile. "Goodnight, Pearl."

"Pearl?" I ask, and he smiles. "Well, Margaret originates from the word 'pearl,' and you are as pretty as a pearl." My cheeks tint pink, and I laugh slightly.

"Alright Blondie, good night," I say, as he parts ways. Turning to the shopkeeper, she waggles her eyebrows and my cheeks turn a brighter pink.

"Oi! We literally just met!" I explain, and she rolls her eyes. "Alright, can I have two bikinis please?" I ask, and she passes me two right over the counter. One was a solid black with padded cups, while the other was a polka dot red and white. "Do I pay you now?"

She shakes her head, pushing the bikinis toward me. With a shrug, I take them with a "thank you," and make my way back to the dorms.

* * *

"Is it just us?" I ask Yui, and she sighs. "I guess."

"Margo! Yui-san!" A cheerful voice comes bumbling in, as a large _CRASH!_ follows. Turning around, I see Balder on the ground. He looks up, a ditzy smile on his face.

"G-good morning," he greets, and I giggle slightly. Fuck boy or not, this is funny. Offering him a hand, I struggle to pull the taller man up. "Hey Balder," I respond, and he smiles. "I'm glad you remembered my name, Margo..."

"It'd be pretty hard to forget your name," I laugh, as Yui laughs in agreement.

"Glad to see you here, Balder," Yui says, as Balder turns his eyes to meet hers.

"Yeah! We thought we'd be the only ones to show up," I add, as Balder smiles at both of us. "I have never attended a school before, so I am excited to take part in the customs..."

Balder turns to Yui. "Margo, have you always been close?"

"Huh?" I ask, looking between Balder and Yui. "Well, Yui and I met yesterda-"

Took a step closer to me, making me slightly uncomfortable. "Did you and Dionysus meet before this?"

"Oh, that? He was asking me if I had any wine," I say, as he smiles more. He reaches up a hand, cupping my cheek as his blue eyes pierce my grey ones.

"Then you met me first," he says, as I take a step back from his hand. "Yeah," I say, as his smile fades.

"Oh! Good morning Fairy! Pearl! Balder! " Apollon yells from the other side of the room as he enters with Tsuk, waving his arms excitedly. Relieved for them to enter, I wave back.

"Hi Apollon! Tsuk!" I greet, as they walk towards us. Balder's eyes flicker between them and I, but I chose to ignore it.

The bell tolls, and Yui sighs. "I guess no more are coming," she says disappointedly, and I shrug. "Maybe they slept in?"

Apollon looks down, clearly upset. "Do they not understand we have to do this together to leave?"

"They'll come around eventually, don't worry, besides, we should enjoy the entrance ceremony!" Yui responds with a smile, and I look at her. "What's an entrance ceremony like?"

"Wait, you're a human, shouldn't you know this?" Apollon asks, and I nod. "School in Japan is different then school in Spain, for example. They teach differently, and have different levels of education. None of the schools I went to had an entrance ceremony."

"Well, all the students assemble, kind of like a celebration for the school year. And they all promise to study hard together."

"Promise to study hard together," Tsuk repeats, writing it down in his notebook. I stifle a laugh at his up-front personality.

"Uh, you don't need to take notes," Yui stammers, as Tsuk writes that line down.

"In other words, is it like a contract ritual?" Balder asks, and Apollon 'ohhs.' "If you break your promise, will you be met with a terrible curse?" Apollon asks, and I think. Well, if you don't study, I guess you'll get bad grades and that's a curse?

"Will we need a sacrifice?" Tsuk asks, and I raise my hand. "I offer Apollon as a sacrifice!"

"Eh?" He asks, turning to me with fear in his eyes. I giggle as Apollon freaks out. "There's no sacrifices!" Yui says, and I give Apollon a wink. "Not that she knows of," I whisper, and Yui playfully glares at me.

"No sacrifices."

"Yeah, no sacrifices," I turn to Apollon, "bring a sacrificial knife."

"Margo!" Yui laughs, and I crack, leaning back in laughter.

"Let's look for people to join our ceremony!" I remark, wiping a laughter tear from my eyes. Yui nods, as we all split to look for people to come with us.

* * *

"Hades!" I yell, looking at the emo-boy as he sat beneath a tree. "Stop!" He says, holding up a hand, "Stay away, I'll bring you misery!"

"I don't care about misery," I shrug, walking to him and sitting down, pulling out my phone and going to the music tab. "Lucky for you, I downloaded music before I came here."

"What kind of music?" He asks quietly, and I give him a smile. "A bunch, I have some in different languages, genres, lengths, etc." Pulling out an earbud, I gesture to the ears as he puts one in. Putting on some chill music, we sit in silence as he relaxes.

"This is...nice," Hades says, and I give him a smile. "Will you come to the opening ceremony with us, then, if I let you listen to my music more often?"

"Alright," Hades says, as he puts his head down, "but misery will surely follow me there."

The music cuts off as I look at my phone and sigh. "Oh darn, I guess it died."

"I brought this upon it-" Hades says, and I laugh. "My phone always dies fast, I'm surprised it hasn't done that already. Besides, it was at 15% when I came over here, so it would've died eventually."

"But you cannot revive something once it's dead, I murdered your phone with my misery," he glowers, as I arch a brow.

"I just need to charge it, I'll find a method of doing it then charge it."

"Oh."

* * *

"Hey Dionysus, you're helping out too?" I ask as everyone else enters the gym, bringing material to set up. Hades was lining up chairs, and I was dragging a table up on the stage.

"Yeah, I have nothing else to do anyway," he says with a smile, as we all set up.

The ceremony was nice, and Apollon did a nice little speech to pair well with it. When we were all done, I could tell that Hades was glad he came, and that made me happy.


	3. Chapter 3

"There's three categories of human muscles," Thoth lectures, and I roll my eyes. I've learned this information before, but apparently the gods didn't know they had stuff other than air _inside them._

Apollon literally thought he was a human form of the sun. I guess it could be true depending what form he took, but he was obviously not all-sun as a human.

And damn, Apollon looked terrified of this information.

"Hey Apollon," I whisper to him on my left, since he sat next to me. "W-what," he whispers back, and I smirk.

"Have you ever seen a wenis?" I ask as he shuddered. "Is t-that a human body part?"

"Worse, it has an _epidermis,"_ I emphasize, and he gives a mini-shriek. Thoth looks back at us, before turning back to the board.

Since my parents were medical-freaks, I knew a lot about the human body and diseases. So, when I know the fancy-sounding names for skin parts and it might scare Apollon slightly, I'll use the terms.

I zone out as everyone starts freaking out about some monster. Damn! The human body isn't that freaky!

The class bell rings and I walk to the Student Council room, readjusting my ponytail. Hades chose not to be in the student council, so it was everyone who showed up to the ceremony. Plopping down on the couch, the other guys arrive, Dionysus sitting next to me as I take out my hair completely, getting frustrated.

"Why is your hair so long, Pearl?"Apollon asks, and I arch a brow. "Just because. The real question is what conditioner Balder is using to get it so shiny and un-frizzy," I respond, glancing over at Balder. He gives a smile, "I guess bad-hair days can't hurt me either."

"Oh, I forgot that nothing can hurt you," Dionysus says, and I arch a brow in confusion. "Nothing can hurt you?"

"Only I can hurt myself, which is why I'm a clutz," Balder laughs slightly, though I can see something was upsetting him at this statement.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!" Yui apologizes as she runs into the club room, "But the season's changed!"

"Isn't it still spring? In our world it was still March, it's only a day later," I wonder aloud as Dionysus chuckles. "Zeus can be very fickle sometimes."

"Wait, so we have a summer break now?" I ask, and Yui nods in excitement. I sit back and wonder what summer break is really like for Japanese students.

"Great, and school just started, too," Dionysus says, plopping a grape into his mouth. "Well, summer break isn't usually this soon," Yui pointed out, and I nod.

"Yeah, we usually suffer through a few months of school first." I grab a pastry, and start munching on it.

Oh, it's so good!

"Suffer? Like torturing?" Balder asks, as Apollon gulps loudly. "What if the torture is them pulling our wenises!"

Coughing suddenly at Apollon's innocent comment, I nearly choke on the pastry. "Wenis? You mean the loose skin on our elbows?" Yui asks, clearly confused. Apollon looks pointedly at me, and I hold my hands up.

"I told you what the wenis is composed of, and you freaked out. An epidermis is basically the outside skin layer and has cells, no biggie," I clarified, as Apollon hung his head in shame.

I giggled at that as Balder looked at me. "Is the 'wenis' a private part of your body?"

"No, but if you replace the 'w' with a 'p' then it is-"

"MARGO!" Yui choked out sa I giggled, the boys looking confused.

Clearing her throat, she composed herself. "Regardless, we should show everyone the fun part of the school life. Let's go to the beach!"

"Oh! I know what you're talking about!" Apollon says as he pulls out a magazine. "Margo told me a few nights ago to choose some books at the library to understand humanity better, and this is the most useful!" Balder looks forward in interest at the mention of my name, but I ignore it.

Holding up the cover, I sweat drop. "'Summer flings?' Really?" I ask, exchanging eye contact with Yui as we flushed slightly. Meanwhile, the other boys except Tsuk lean forward in interest.

"Even this book recommends the beach! Especially rubbing naked bodies exchanges friendship!" he says, imagining the scene with a sunset backdrop...

"Ew no! Get that thought out of your head!" I squeal, placing my hands over my ears.

"Margo means that humans don't rub naked bodies for friendship reasons," Yui explains, "it's a more, well, intimate things."

"Ah, but intimate things bring us closer as friends!" Apollon squeals, and I face palm.

"I'm sure Totsuka Takeru will come to the beach," Tsuk says, as I smile. "I'll invite Thor and Loki," Balder says, as Apollon smiles. "Great! Then Dee-Dee and I will invite Uncle Hades!"

"Uncle?" Yui asks, and I arch a brow. "Have you ever read mythology outside the Japanese culture, Yui?"

"No, not really," she admits, and I smile. "In most stories, the deities are related to one another, either as cousins or brothers or whatever."

That's how I also know that Apollon and Dionysus are the sons of Zeus, and that made me angry. For if Zeus even remotely cared for his children, he wouldn't have dragged them here. Hell, he dragged his own brother here!

* * *

"You're going to practice your sword thing?" I ask as Yui prepared to leave our apartment-like dorm. "It's called Iaido, and it's the art of sword drawing. Hey, since you got pulled her by magic, did you get a sword thing too?" She asks, and I shrug.

"Kinda, I got this scythe," I admit, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear to reveal the weird-blue colored scythe.

"I just thought that was a normal jewelry piece for you," she admits, and I shrug, allowing my hair to cover it again. "I don't notice it anymore," I respond, grabbing a towel off the kitchen table as I flip the book closed with a sigh.

"What were you reading?" She asked, and I held the book up.

"My Japanese isn't perfect, so I was reading Hunger Games to practice. Let's just say I'm glad that the gods weren't gathered here for a Hunger Games, or we'd be dead," I chuckled as she smiled.

"I'm glad, too. I'm off to practice now."She waves goodbye quickly, then turns to leave the room. With a sigh, I lean back into the couch, inhaling through my nose.

I'm going to be a year older when I graduate, but I'll be going back to how it was. Won't I forget things in this time period? When I get back, will I remember where the spare key is? What my password is to my computer?

Sighing, I walk up to my bedroom and change into a pair of sweatpants and white tee I got from the school store. Looking up at the ceiling, I sighed.

What was to become of me?

Tilting my head as I looked at the ceiling, I see a panel on there. Is that what I think it is?

Determined, I grab the chair in my room and press on the panel as stairs slide from it. With a determined expression, I hop off the chair and slide some slippers onto my feet. Locking the bedroom door, I turn back up to the mysterious ladder and begin climbing it.

Looking around the attic, it was actually furnished. The floors were done, there was a couch or two and there was the half-circled windows. It was like the floor that was supposed to be used for something, but it never was actually used.

Smiling to myself, I began walking and noticed there was no doors, it was just large corridors lit by the moon and stars through the windows. I continued walking, heading to my left.

If they're just giant corridors, I can sneak into the boys' dorms, right? Or the kitchen, or the library since all of the buildings are connected.

I'm getting some Secret Garden vibes from this. Did Zeus read it while creating this place?

Whatever the meaning behind this place is, I don't care since it's amazing! Remembering the mental map of how to get to the cafeteria from the dorms, I begin heading that way.

Once I'm above the cafeteria, I see a panel to it a few feet away from where it mainly is. Smirking to myself, I unhinge the panel as the ladder swings down into the unpopulated kitchen.

Like a ninja, I go to the fridge and open it to see breakfast foods. Widely smiling like a buffoon, I grab the food and crawl up the ladder with it, before closing the door. Running back to the dorm area, I go back down the ladder of my room and slide it back up.

Unlocking the door and putting the breakfast food in the fridge, I formulate a plan to do in my free time. But for now, I need my sleep.

* * *

"Everyone came! Hurray!" Apollon says as he stood next to Yui in front of our group. I was standing next to Hades and Thor, ready to go swimming and have fun!

"Alright, let's start!" Apollon leads our group down the nature trail as we walk through fields. The sun bore down on us, and I felt like panting like a dog.

"Ehhh, I'm sweating like crazy here," Loki announced the thought of all of us, and I turn back to him, clearly annoyed. "Maybe you shouldn't wear black, since it absorbs heat faster," Loki's eyes widen in surprise, evidently not knowing that.

"My legs are tired too," Takeru announced, and I roll my eyes, looking down at my feet. I'm wearing tennis shoes, so I can probably get some running in.

"I'm running ahead!" I announce, "I can get in the water faster that way, and I'll cool off too!"

"Eh? Why not stay with the group and experience the adventure?" Apollon asks, and I look pointedly at him.

"Don't you have some giant, horse thingy in the stables?" I ask, and he nods. "They're a Pegasus," he corrects, and I sigh.

"Well, you're Gandalfing us right now. You have the possession of something that can get us there faster, but you're with holding it for no reason," I groan, jumping up and down a couple times to warm myself up

"If anyone wants to join me, go ahead! I love having running buddies!" I announce as I begin to jog off.

"Wait up, I'll come with you!" Takeru yells out, quickly running to catch up with me. "Come on, brother!"

Soon Tsuk was running alongside us, then Loki came so he could show up Takeru. Thor came, as he's practically Loki's shadow, then Balder came. Apollon and Yui quickly joined in, and Hades ran slightly slower, not wanting to cause misfortune on the party.

So, here I was, leading a pack of running gods and one human. Never thought I'd be in this situation. Soon we made it to the beach, and I was super excited.

"Ah! The beach~!" I say excitedly, rummaging through my bag to pull out an inflatable beach ball. Setting it aside, I quickly take off my top and pants to reveal the black bikini outfit.

The guys were giving me weird looks, and I quirk a brow. "Do I have something on my face?" I ask, as Apollon shakes his head.

"No! We also wore our swimsuits under our clothes!" He announces, commencing _The Strip._

It was glorious, and Yui's face was bright red. Though Takeru's suit was a bit outdated, everyone had great swimming materials.

"Now let's go swimming!" I cheer, as Yui starts heading to the bathroom to change. Running to the water, I jump in, splashing water droplets everywhere.

A big gong sound rang through the air, and I look around, confused as the leaves turned yellows and oranges, some falling off the trees already. The weather turned cold, and I crossed my arms.

"Zeus, if you don't change the weather back, I'm going to tell them every story of how you cheated!" I yell out.

In my freshman year of highschool I took a Greek mythology class focusing on the main gods and goddesses. And we basically spent two whole months on Zeus, especially when he cheated.

There was no response, and I placed my hands on my hips. "Zeus, I'm counting to 3. 1..."

"Margo, this probably isn't going to work," Balder starts, beginning to sweat nervously.

"2..."

"My brother is stubborn, he's not going to change it," Hades sullenly says, and I point up at the sky.

"Don't make me say 3, young man!"

"Oohh, I want to see if he hits her with a lightning bolt as punishment," Loki giggles, and my brow furrows.

"3!"

...

Nothing happened.

"Alright, storytime everyone! I say, clapping my hands as cold waves washed over my legs.

Remember when I said I swam and ran at the beaches? Not all of the beaches were tropical where I lived, so I'm used to swimming at cold ones. But these people probably aren't, so if I change the weather for them to participate it'll be much more fun.

"Let's start with Leda and the swan!" I shout, as the gong sounds again. Almost like *magic,* the leaves turned back to a green, the ones that fell off dead floated back up to the tree as the water turned warmer.

Everyone cheered as I pumped my fist. "Woot!"

They all stampeded into the water, running straight towards me. "Eek!" I shout, trying to run away as Loki scooped me up in his arms.

"We should do a victory splash!" He shouts out, as I shake my head. "No, I'm good," I defend, as Loki lowers his head towards my ear, breath hot on my skin.

"It'll be fun, Margo," he whispers, and I turn my head violently away as I push myself from his body, belly-flopping into the water.

Ouch! But it was better than being scooped up into the asshat's arms.

Popping back up from the water, I watched as Yui ran into the water with the bikini she bought, and I cheered.

"This is awesome!" I shout in joy, "Let's do chicken fights!"

"Chicken fights? But we have no poultry here with us," Balder questions, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"Not like that, goofball," I laugh at his obliviousness.

"Do we see who can prepare and cook a chicken best?" Tsuk asks, and I shake my head.

"No, Yui, care to help me explain?" I ask, walking over to her.

"Sure! Alright, so we each get a partner like so," Yui says, "Margo and I will be partners for example."

"Yep! Now, we get on each other's shoulders," I say, squatting down in the water as Yui gets up on my shoulders. I stand back up in the water, feeling the weight of Yui upon my shoulders.

She had a similar height and weight of my sisters, so I'm kinda prepared, but it still knocks the air out of me!

"Anyway, from here we try to knock down other couples. The last pair standing wins!" I announce, squatting back down so Yui can get off.

We all randomly chose partners by rock paper scissors: Apollon and Thor, Dionysus and Yui, Loki and Takeru, Balder and Hades, and Tsuk and I.

"Alright! Let's rock it Tsuk!" I say, offering my hand up in a high five to Tsuk.

He looked blandly at it. "Why are you raising your hand."

"For a high five!" I explain, "You lift your hand and hit mine, it's a human greeting."

"Oh, I see," he says, writing it in his notebook. "'You lift your hand and hit mine, it's a human greeting'."

How did he even get his notebook in here?!

Putting it in his suit pocket, he lifts up his hand and proceeds to hit my hand...

Very hard.

"Oh!" I semi-shout in surprise, cradling my hand as it throbs.

"Did I do it correctly?" He asks, and I nod.

"You can say that," I reply, as he squats in the water. I suppose I'm on the top.

Muahahaha...

When we're all ready to go, I examine the other people on top: Apollon, Yui, Takeru, and Balder.

Rubbing my hands deviously, I prepare for the battle.

"Get ready, go!" Yui says as Tsuk calmly waits on the side.

"What are you doing?" I whisper, and he looks up at me.

"Just waiting, you'll see. Dionysus was drinking while running, and with the trajectory of the waves and with the combined force he'll fall over in a moment."

Looking up as a wave was approaching, it hit Dionysus and he stumbled over, taking Yui down with him in a large _SPLASH!_

"Dang Tsuk, you're right," I giggle as Tsuk and I approach Balder and Hades.

Holding my hands out in front of me, I look at the Norse god. "You're going down!" I laugh out as he quirks a brow.

"Really?" He asks as I try pushing against him. He's as stiff as a brick wall!

"Tsuk! Get Hades down," I tell him, as he looks forward at a gloomy Hades.

"Alright," he says, as Hades looks determinedly at Tsuk. "I know my misery will make you fail."

Tsuk just bent his leg forward slightly, twisting it around Hades as he kicked the back of his leg. Hades crumpled under the weight of Balder, falling down.

"Good job, Tsuk!" I say excitedly, putting my hand low for Tsuk to high five. He does it, much softer this time, and I smile.

We look over at a bickering Loki and Takeru. Loki inhales through his nose and leans backwards slightly so that Takeru falls.

Turning towards Apollon and Thor as our final opponents, I make a 'I'll beat you up' sign with my fist.

Thor looked blankly at Tsuk, who replied with the same bland look. Looking Apollon in the eyes, he had a determined look in them.

"Go Margo!" Yui cheers, as Loki scoffs. "Thor and Apollon are obviously going to win!" He replies.

In the blink of an eye, Thor was running towards us as Apollon raises his hands and makes a flailing motion with them, swiping at me with them.

"What are you doing?" I ask, and he looks at me with a sorrowful look in his eye.

"I don't want to punch my friends!" He wails, as I shrug.

"You don't have to punch people," I tell him simply, and he looks at me.

"Really?" He asks, and I smile with a nod.

"Yeah."

I push him with both of my hands backwards, leaving Tsuk and I as the victors.

"Woo!" I crow, leaning backwards, taking both Tsuk and I into the water.

Popping up from the waves, I look at a blank Tsuk, hair dripping like a wet dog.

"Good job, Tsuk!" I congratulated, jumping forward and giving Tsuk a tight hug. He just stood there, finally raising an arm and putting it around my back stiffly.

Pulling away, I give him a final smile before turning to everyone else. "Good job, everyone!"

"Yeah, that was really fun!" Apollon smiles, as Takeru scoffs. "It would have been better if I didn't have an incompetent partner."

"Incompetent?!" Loki asks, splashing Takeru. The boys keep splashing each other, and I laugh, returning to the beach as I grab the beach ball, beginning to blow into it.

When it's finally at a good ratio, I throw it into the air once. "Yui! Wanna set it to each other?" I ask, throwing the ball over to her as she bumps it back to me.

"Yeah!" She shouts back, exiting the water as the guys continue to chicken fight. We set it back and forth until a large splash is heard. We turn our heads to watch Apollon and Dionysus fall, and they walk over to us.

Yui spikes the ball at me, as I dive across the sand to hit it, bumping it to Dionysus as I fall. He awkwardly hits it to Apollon, who hits it to Yui, who hits it back to Dionysus. Another splash is heard, and a few minutes later the rest of the boys join us, save for Hades.

"Come on Hades! Join us!" I smile at him, lightly bumping the ball to where he sat on the beach towel. He hits it lightly back to me as it suddenly has a hole in it, deflating around the arms of Loki who hit it next.

"I brought misery again," Hades says, and I shake my head, walking back over to my bag. "Well, good thing I have these buckets!"

Pulling out buckets from the beach bag, I toss one at everyone as Yui arches a brow. "How do you organize all of this in your bag?"

"I'm very good at packing things," I reply,

For the rest of the day we built sandcastles and the like. We convinced everyone to come back to school with us, leaving a wide grin on my face.

Everyone went inside the beach house to sleep after a long day, but I was restless. Getting up, as to not disturb Yui, I went onto the beach and sat on the sandy floor, feet in the water. It lapped at my feet, as I stared off into the distance as the galaxy hung over us.

Just where in the universe are we?

"Margo?" A smooth voice asks from behind me, and I turn to see Baldr, hair illuminated by the galaxy around us.

"Oh, hey Balder," I greet as he walks by me, sitting down on the sand next to me. "What are you doing out here so late at night?"

"I was feeling restless," I reply, "so I came out here."

"I see, is this what you regularly do to relax yourself?" He asks, and I shrug. "Depends on where I live and how close I was to a body of water. Sometimes I bike, hike, run or swim. What do you do?"

"I dance," he replies smoothly, and I quirk a brow. "Dancing?"

"Yes, it's quite fun," he smiles, "though I can be clumsy, I don't trip while doing it."

"Interesting, I'm not the best dancer," I laugh.

"What kind of dance moves do humans do?" He asks, as I stand up, brushing myself off.

"Well, it's usually a solo-dancing thing. The time period I come from, there's something called the whip and the dab." I show him, and he arches a brow.

 _(Quick A/N: I wrote this originally in late 2016/early 2017 and forgot to upload it. Ah, the cringe!)_

"That is certainly, er, interesting."

"Don't worry, we all know it's stupid, yet we do it anyway for ironic purposes," I laugh, sitting back down next to Balder.

We're silent once more as the waves crash, and he finally speaks up.

"Why did you not want to be my partner today for the poultry fights?"

"Huh?" I ask, as he looks at me, brows furrowed slightly.

"You were partnered with Tsukito instead."

"Oh, that! It was random, so don't worry." I wave off, and he smiles.

"Just random, I understand..."

The hard look was still there, so I shifted uncomfortably as I stood up, watching the water recede.

"Oh, look!" I step through the sand where the water dwelled previously, picking up a sea cookie.

Plucking it out, I held it up for Balder to see as I step back over to him, passing it to him as he looked at it. "A sand dollar?" He asks, and I nod.

"I call it sea cookie because that sounds funny, but it's the same thing. They're bleached by the sun, giving it a white appearance," I explain, as he looks at the sand dollar in his hand, stroking it with his thumb.

"Thank you," he whispers, looking at it. "No prob, Bob!"

"Who is this 'Bob' man?" He asks, looking around to see that we're alone. I laugh slightly, waving it off.

"It's a human saying, goofball."

"Oh."


	4. Chapter 4

"A club?" I ask, as Apollon gives a nod of approval.

Since Apollon practically organized our whole trip to the beach over summer break, we had made him the student council president. Yipee. Since then I haven't had time to map out the attic, but all of that was going to change...

"Yes, it strengthens human bonds and people learn to create ties with one another!" Apollon explain, as I slump in my chair, fighting to hide the smirk forming on my face. That sounded like my job, which made this whole circus a lot easier for me.

"Exactly, now is there any activities you would all like to do?" Yui asks, looking around the room.

"I'm interested in the tennis club, especially in soft ball tennis," Balder informs, a serene smile on his face. Now that I've gotten to know him, I'm pretty sure he's not a fuck boy, he just tries to charm everyone...

"I also want to join the tennis club!" Apollon relates. "But I want to do hard ball."

"Soft ball sounds wonderful, it had a kind feel and it's usually played in pairs. Youth is all about helping each other!" Balder declares, standing up dramatically as a Pocahontas-wind blows behind his hair, causing me to arch a brow.

"Aren't you all thousands of years old gods? And where did the wind come from?!" I ask as Dionysus waves me off. "Details aren't important here," he slurs, lifting his face to his sleeve. When he pulls away, I notice he had a bit of wine dribbled down his face.

Did he seriously hide a flask in his sleeve?!

"I want to experience my youth too! You won't beat me, Bal-Bal!" Apollon says, as my eye twitches. Gods are thousands of years old, and they wish to experience their youth?

You know what, let them have their fun as humans. I have no idea what they do on a daily basis as gods, so this may be a vacation of sorts for them.

"Why don't you guys switch off every-other day? Some days you'll rally against each other for hard ball, and others you can be partners for soft-ball," I suggest as Balder and Apollon look at each other.

"That's a great idea, Pearl!" Apollon beams as Balder gives a nod. "Yes! Now Apollon and I can experience our youth together!"

"Gardening club sounds nice," Dionysus murmurs to himself as I sigh. Hopefully the weather will fare well for him, knowing how Zeus is always PMSing with the weather.

"What about you, Loki?" Yui asks as Loki twirls a braid around his finger. "The Going Home Club," he answers simply, and I roll my eyes.

"Loki, I don't believe that's a club-" Yui starts, "I'll join that club too," the huge man that goes by 'Thor' cuts off as I roll my eyes. "How about you, Margo?" Yui asks, and I think. I don't want anyone else to join my club so I have time to explore the attic and make a map of it.

"I'm in the broken arm club. If you've ever broken an arm, you can join," I make up on the spot as Yui sweat drops.

"What do you do in the club?" She asks, and I shrug. "Try not to break your arm again."

"Good enough," she responds, causing me to smile. Perfect! I'm pretty sure that the spirits here haven't broken an arm since they haven't been in existence for long, so I have freedom to explore!

"How about you, Hades?"

"The astronomy club is interesting."

"Oh, really?" Yui asks, excited Hades was interested. "Then you can-"

"I said it was interesting, I never said I'd join."

Ouch, harsh Hades, way to get our hopes up.

* * *

The school bell rang, signifying the end of the day, meaning it was club time! Getting up from my seat, I make my way over to Thoth.

"Hey, Mr. Thoth-"

"It's _Master_ Thoth," he emphasizes, and I shake my head. "Sorry, Master Thoth, do you have a map of the school I can use?"

Thoth looks at me with a narrowed expression. "What for?"

"Well, I keep getting lost, and it'll be helpf-"

"I don't care, take the map and go," he groans, holding out a scrolled map on the parchment paper. Score!

Quickly making my way to the dorms without seeming suspicious, I walk to my room and change into a pair of running shorts, tennis shoes and a t-shirt. Throwing my hair into a tight ponytail, I lock the door before dragging the chair over to the attic entrance. Grabbing my club bag, filled with granola bars, the map, a large parchment paper, pens, water and a flashlight, I pulling down the ladder, looking up it. Quickly hopping up the steps, I examine the attic.

This time I could see the details a lot better. The ceiling had a more, looming dome-like structure, and it was light enough for me to be able to see without a flashlight. Walking over to one of the spare couches, I hop onto it, spreading a cloud of dust everywhere.

"Ew, nasty," I cough out, echoing my voice in the large infrastructure. Grabbing a pen from my bag I pull out the map alongside it and hold the parchment paper over the map. Standing up and placing it by the window, I trace out the map onto the paper with some squiggly lines, but overall it was great.

Comparing the dorm room area on the full map, I marked an attic entrance on where the girls dorms are. Satisfied, I tuck the maps back into my bag, clipping the pen behind my ear.

For the next few hours I repeated this until I had a final map full of details of the attic portions. There was at least 1 attic entrance per building, and my final exploration was on the opposite side of the clock tower.

Walking towards the opposite side, I unlatched the side-door, stepping inside. A rusty, metal-rung staircase leading upwards and downwards met me, and suspense filled my body.

Racing up the stairs with large _clangs,_ I reached the top of the stairs to be met with a top-door, like the kind you'd see in a treehouse. Swinging that upwards, my jaw dropped in wonder.

From all sides I could see the world that lay around me, as I watched the sun set from one side and the other the stars rise. It was so beautiful, and I knew I'd never see something like that again.

Stepping onto the flat roof, I walked to the roof's ledge and sat down, swinging my legs aimlessly over as I watched the sun set fully as the stars came out fully. Leaning on my back, I watched the galaxy appear overhead, as I inhaled the fresh air. It was like summer's dying breath, filling the air with a slight chilliness and magic.

This was so...peaceful. Closing my eyes, I felt a big, fat water droplet land on my nose. Looking up, I watched as the sky formed clouds overhead, and my mouth sat in a firm line.

This place received plenty of sun regularly, and if I come here everyday for my broken-arm club, this can be my club room of sorts. I can make a small spot here, and another in the entrance room above my dorm.

Laughing to myself, I quickly run down the stairs and close the doors, flailing my limbs as water droplets flick off me. Heck, I wonder what's down the downstairs?

Adjusting my backpack straps, I walk down the staircase to see a flat floor with an attic pothole leading downwards without a ladder. It's a sliding door instead?

Slowly sliding it open, I poke my head downward to see a bathroom with urinals. Quickly sliding it closed, I lean back from the pothole and pull out my map, labeling the boy's bathroom on the second floor on this side of the building.

Alright, now I know what I'm going to do.

I'm going to furnish the roof, and quite possibly the common area!

* * *

"What are you doing?" A snarky-toned gruff voice asks, and I turn to Takeru. Holding a bunch of wood in my arms, I look up at him.

"Broken-arm club, can't disclose information unless you're in it," I reply cheekily, walking from the school store as he follows me, hands in his pockets.

"What does a broken-arm club have to do with wood?!" He asks, and I shrug. "I guess you'll never know."

I walk away from him quickly as he slightly fumed that I hadn't told him what I was doing with the wood.

Walking back to my dorms, I quickly shoved it up through the attic as I pushed my rolling chair up there. I'm probably just going to leave it up there, besides, Yui and I do homework at the dining room table together.

Placing the wood on the chair, I follow the map to the roof location I was at previously as I pulled the wood up there. Unzipping my backpack, I pulled out hammers, saws and nails.

"Alright, hopefully I'll have a minimal amount of injuries after this..." I mutter as I begin the process of making benches.

* * *

On Wednesday when I arrived to school with some bruises, red scars, pinpricks and paper cuts on my hands, everyone wondered what happens in my club.

It was all worth it though, because I had made 3 benches! Thank god for that wood shop class I took in the summer of eight grade. But, based off the injuries I acquired, it showed how good I was at it.

"What happened?" Balder asks, slightly angry as he cradles my hands, "Did someone hurt you?"

"Nah, it was just broken-arm club work," I reply, as Tsuk wrote that down in his notebook. Takeru looked at me with crossed arms, as Loki giggled slightly.

"I have an ointment that can heal your hands," he suggested, and I look at him, a smile forming on my face.

"Loki..." Thor warns, but I ignore it. Hey, we're making progress! Maybe forming connections won't be so hard, now.

"Really?" I ask, and he nods, pulling out a large container filled with a white lotion-looking substance. "Here, lather this on your hands," he tosses it to me, and I look at the lotion. There was the slightest smell of orchids to it, but it was awfully suspicious.

Loki, the god of tricks, was going to prank me with this. For goodness sake, I had two little sisters who always tried to prank me! With a smile, I tuck it into my bag.

"I'll be sure to use this after my club work, thanks," I assured, and he giggles, waving it off. "It's nothing."

How obvious can he be? Oh, he'll definitely get payback later!

* * *

Swiping a paintbrush across the white lotion Loki had given me, I swooshed it across the first defected bench I had made. Wherever the lotion touched, it left a purple stain after drying quickly.

So, Loki had made plans to dye my hands. Clever, I'll give that to him. It did leave a nice finish on the benches...

Taking the completed boxes, I painted them all with the lotion so they had a nice purple touch, and I placed them on the stairs inside case it might rain again. Though Tuesday, Thursday and Friday were 'club days,' I'll work on my little hang out whenever I can until it's finished. Looking back in the jar I had, I noticed I had just a bit left.

Speaking of, I had watched Loki over the past few weeks. After school, he and Thor walk around campus until 6:00, head to dinner in the cafeteria, and don't get back to their dorms until 7:00. Which means I can take the remaining lotion... _muahahaha_.

Checking my watch, I saw it was 5:30, so I had plenty of time to strike. Running to the boy's dorm areas through the attic passageways, I stopped above their entrance. There was one attic hole above each, which was unusual, but Zeus probably placed it there for a reason. I had labeled it on the map, and the Greek was on the left and Japanese on the right.

So the Norse is in the middle, perfect.

Lifting up the attic hole slightly, I peaked in to see that it opened into the boy's bathroom, and the door was closed. And no one was in.

Not wanting to cause a ruckus in case Balder was in here, I opened up the attic door fully but didn't slide the ladder down. Lowering my body so my feet touched the sink, I let go, standing on the sink all the way now. Stepping off the sink quietly, I make my way over to the door and quietly slide the lock.

Tiptoing my way over to the shower, I look at the conditioner names to see which one is Loki's.

 _Blonde and Beautiful Shampoo and Conditioner-_ yeah, that's definitely not Loki's.

 _Shockingly Good Shampoo+Conditioner-_ maybe Loki's?

 _Smoking hot! Get all the babes! Mega Axe Shampoo and Conditioner Manly Combo!_

...I think I found Loki's.

Quickly dumping out some of the white, smelly Axe brand down the shower drain, I replace it with the lookalike ointment. Satisfied, I cap the conditioner as I put the empty bottle in my backpack.

The sound of the doorknob turning makes me jolt from my position as I start scrambling towards the sink, trying to climb back up the attic hole.

"Loki? Are you home already?" A muffled voice comes from behind the door as my eyes widen. Was I too loud?!

Quickly scrambling up the attic hole, I close it slowly as to not make a sound. When it finally closes, I breathe a sigh of relief...

Only to realize I left the door locked, and there was no one in that bathroom.

Shit! No one can get in, now!

I hope Balder doesn't notice the door...

Looking up at the sky, I clap my hands together once. "Oh Zeus, if you unlock the bathroom door for me I promise I'll stop bringing up you cheating so much..."

From below me, I hear the door _click_ to an unlocked position as I smile. "Alright Zeus, a deal's a deal."

Getting up from where I stood, I silently padded back over to my dorm room, hopping down from the hole to go to sleep.

* * *

Loki came into class Thursday morning angrily, hair a bright shade of purple as he pointed at me. "You!" He shouts angrily, stomping over to me.

"Me?" I ask, as he holds up his hair. "What did you do to it?! How did you do it?!" He asks, as I hold my hands up defensively.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" I defend, as Loki grabs my face, squishing it so I'm forced to look into his eyes. "It's purple!"

"A lovely shade of it, if you ask me. Brings out your eyes," I teased, as he inhales through his nose.

"Loki! You look like a plum!" Takeru laughs, as he glares intensely at Takeru, before turning the gaze to me.

"This is your fault!" He proclaimed, grabbing a chunk of my hair. "Hey Loki, calm down-" Balder starts as Loki reaches into his pocket.

"An eye for an eye," he vowed, withdrawing a pair of scissors. "Loki, you put the dye in yourself, you should know if it's permanent or not. And can you let me go, please?" I calmly ask, eyeing the scissors with a slight nervousness.

"An eye for an eye," he repeats, as Apollon steps closer. "Pearl asked for you to sto-"

 _SNIP!_

The force of Loki holding my hair was gone as a long, black lock drifted in front of my vision. Looking at Loki, the world had gone silent until he interrupted it with his cackling.

"Now you look stupid too!" He laughs, but his voice sounded as if it was underwater as I looked at the hair that laid in front of me.

"Loki! That was uncalled for!" Balder scolds Loki, but it sounds so far away as I'm swept under the tide as memories overcome me.

* * *

 _"Mar-ga-ret!" He called, sending over a sweet smile my way. Those smiles used to make me happy, but now they only cause me disgust._

 _"Leave me alone, Wayne. I can't stay over in Bristol forever. You knew that when we became a couple that it wouldn't last for too long," I reply, as the smile turned sour._

 _"Can I have something to remember you by, then?" He asked quietly, and I smiled._

 _"Of course, Wayne!" I reply, glad he was finally accepting that I was leaving. "A photo?"_

 _"No..." he said, pulling me by the hair to meet his deep, black eyes. "You."_

 _Thrashing and screaming as he attempted to cover my mouth, I silently pulled a box-cutter from my pocket, slicing my hair off, dropping me to the ground._

 _"You can't get away, bitch," he laughs, stepping on my chest as he pins me to the ground._

 _"No, please stop-"_

 _"Lights out," he says in a sweet voice, before the bottom of his boot meets my face._

* * *

"Margo?" Yui asks, as I look up at her. "Huh?"

"You zoned out after Loki snipped your hair," she said, as I look at the hair that was in front of me on my desk.

"Oh, I forgot," I whisper, sitting up straight with a smile as Loki looked at me, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Are you crying?!" He cackles, as I feel something wet running down my cheek. Wiping it with the back of my hand, I shrug. This tear was from the past, and not the present, so it should no longer affect me, right?

"I guess I am, is there something wrong with that?" I ask, as his expression drops.

Takeru glared at Loki as I stood up, taking the hairs on my desk and swiping them into my hand. Making my way over to the trashcan I dump them in.

"Pearl?" Apollon asks, and I look at Loki, sighing.

My mouth opened to say something, to yell, to scream for help, but nothing came out. Loki wasn't Wayne, though Loki was an asshole, he wasn't Wayne, and doesn't deserve my wrath. Closing my mouth, I make my way back over to my desk, everyone's eyes following mine.

No one knew what to say, and I was used to that.

Sitting back in my seat just as Thoth started lessons, I saw that everyone's eyes would flicker over to me during lessons. Heck, even Tsuk did, and he always stared straight ahead. After the bell rang at the end of the school day, I wordlessly grabbed my bags and left before anyone could stop me.

 **(Third Person Switch)**

Unknown to Margo, after Yui left the club room all the guys cornered Loki.

"Did you see her face," Loki laughs as Balder glares at Loki. "You never harm a lady, especially Margo."

"Yeah, you ass," Takeru glares, "we all know that the ointment you gave her is the same thing used to turn your hair purple."

"An eye for an eye! She messes with my hair, I mess with her-"

"You tried pranking Pearl with the ointment, and she pranked you back. You should have stopped there," Apollon chorused, as Tsuk looks up from his notebook.

"I found in my research that humans usually call this irrational behavior 'bullying,' and it's not accepted by their culture," Tsuk announced, before looking back at his notebook. Hades stood up, looking at Loki with a newfound strength within him.

"If you harm Margo again, misery will befall you."

Loki gulped, before a joking grin creeps back onto his face. "I was just messing around and things may have gotten too far," he teased, "I won't cut anymore hair."

The others sighed in relief, before leaving for club time, not realizing Loki had only promised not to cut hair.

* * *

"Hey Melissa," I ask, walking into the dorms as Melissa pops out of their mini-house. "Yes?"

"Where do we keep the scissors?" I ask, and he points to a cabinet with their limb. "Thanks!" I call back, as Melissa waddles over to me.

"What do you need the scissors for?" he asks, as I start walking out.

"I need to cut something!" Slamming my bedroom door closed and locking it, I make my way up to the attic to the area I had set up.

Sitting in front of the mirror and taking off my jacket, I peer into it. "Alright, Margo, you've done this before, and you can do it again," I pep myself up, grabbing a lock of hair and my scissors.

With a quick _SNIP!_ the second lock of the day comes off.

* * *

The final product was amazing. It was short on one side, pooling over to the other and forming a bang. It boldly showed off the scythe on my ear, which I had long since forgotten about. Sweeping the area clean, I gather it into a bag.

Shrugging a beanie onto my head to hide all my hair, I take the bag and head back down to my dorms, exiting my room. "Where are you going?" Melissa asks as I hold up the trash bag.

"Taking out the trash, do you want anything while I'm out?" I ask, as Melissa thinks. "Can you get me some cards while you're out? I want to learn how to play Solitaire."

"You got it," I reply, exiting the dorms as I throw the bag in the giant garbage can. Making my way to the school store, I passed by the tennis courts. I guess today was a soft-ball tennis day, as Apollon and Balder were on the same side against two spirit-students. Turning back from them, I looked at the staircase to see Yui over there with Hades. Stepping into the store, I grab a deck of cards and head to the gardening section.

"Margo?" A voice asks, and I turn to see Dionysus. "Oh, hey Dionysus," I reply, "what are you doing here?"

"Picking up a trellis for my grapes," he replies, a dreamy look in his eyes when he says 'grapes.' "What about you?"

"Grabbing an Aloe Vera plant," I say, walking to the 'Live-Plant' section and picking up one. "I used to always have at least one in every room of the house..."

"Do all humans do that?" Dionysus asked, slightly confused why everyone would have a plant in every single room of the house.

"I don't believe so, but it's possible. It's mostly because my parents are medical engineers, and when we lived in Germany they'd always come home from work with burns. I was doing a plant project at school, so I told them to get an Aloe Vera plant for the gel inside. When I came home from school, every single room in the house had an Aloe Vera plant in it, and it's always been like that ever since," I nostalgically remembered.

"You sound like you miss your family," he notes quietly. "While we all came here with someone, you didn't come here with Yui, right?"

"Yeah, but I know you all now, so it's fine...well, for me at least. I don't know how Yui feels about this situation." I give a tight smile as I walk to the language section with Dionysus trailing behind. Running my fingers over the books, I finally find the one.

"Korean?" He echoes as I slide the beginner's book off the shelf.

"Yeah, I have a full year to my disposal," I respond, flipping through the pages, "in case I have to switch schools again, I'll be prepared."

I begin walking toward the clerk, showing her the two items.

"Again?"

"Never mind, I just seem to be blabbering a lot tonight. See you later!" I walk off from him before Dionysus can ask any other questions.

I seemed to have completely forgot about my origins in the time I have been here, and if I focus too much, I feel like I'll burst into tears.

* * *

"Oh my gods, Margo!" Yui says when I arrive home as I take my beanie off.

"Hi Yui, I know, right? I got us an Aloe Vera plant!" I hold it up with a radiant smile, causing Yui to roll her eyes.

"I'm talking about your hair, it's so cute!" Yui smiles, and I laugh. "Oh gee, thanks."

"Can you do me a favor tomorrow, Margo?" She asks, and I see an innocent smile on her face.

"Sure!"

* * *

When I arrived to school the next day and sat in class, when the Greeks entered their jaws dropped.

"Wow Pearl, your hair is so pretty on you!" Apollon fawns, and I smile. "Thanks Apollon!"

"It seems Loki hasn't caused you misfortune, but good tidings," Hades notes, as Dionysus poured wine into his mouth.

"Looks good." Dionysus smiles, plopping down in his seat.

When the Japanese came in, Tsuk looked at me blandly.

"Do humans cut their hair?"

"Yes, sometimes they trim it, other times they do a big chop," I reply, as he nods, writing down something in his journal.

"Okay."

"Ha! You look like a boy now, Butter!"

"Butter?" I cock my head to the side, obviously confused at Takeru's new nickname for me.

"Well, there's this human thing called 'margarine' apparently, and it's a type of butter." Takeru was obviously pleased that he knew this information, and I laughed slightly. That was an odd connection, but whatever makes him open up.

"Alright, I see where you got butter from."

When Balder entered, his eyes grew hard. "Did Loki cut more hair?" He angrily asked, as I shook my head. "Nope! Did this myself."

"Oh, okay," Balder smiles as he pats me on the head, stroking my new hair slightly. "Looks pretty on you."

"Er, thanks," I respond awkwardly. "Can you, uh, stop stroking me?"

"Oh! Okay," Balder agreed, as he went back to his seat.

When Thor and Loki entered, Loki looked directly at me. His hair was back to it's fiery red, meaning he knew how to remove the purple.

"Tch," Loki says, walking towards me. "I see you got your hair cut. It's not too bad."

"Thanks, Loki," I quietly respond with a whisper so only he can hear. I don't really want to, but it'd be the best to say this to him, to show him what all humans need to do. I know he's not going to say sorry on his own, after all.

"I forgive you."

"Huh?" He asks, turning to me, and I lift my head up to meet his eyes. "I forgive you," I repeat louder, "you were only mad that I pranked you back. Just don't do it, or I'll end up bald, alright?" My tone becomes joking in the end, and Loki's cheeks tint a slight pink as he turns around, turning back to his joking self.

"Well, since you're begging me, I guess we'll be on okay terms," Loki announces, and I roll my eyes.

* * *

The first star appeared in the sky at night, as Hades stood up to go.

"Hey Hades!" I greet, as he turns to see our Student Council posse, Yui leading it with me next to her. "Are you going stargazing?" She asks.

"And would it be alright if we tagged along?" I ask as Dionysus hiccuped. "Even if you say no, we'll still follow you," He smirks, as I roll my eyes.

"Not in the creepy-stalker way, but in the friend way," I cover up as Hades appeared slightly surprised.

"I suppose, but I'll ensure that you all will just have a bad time..."

We all walk to the stargazing spot as my eyes widen. "Wow! It's like the whole galaxy decided to be our sky," I marveled as we all look up at the stars, each twinkling like a whole jewelry store.

"I wonder how many there are," Apollon muses as Hades smirks. "Apparently there's hundreds of billions of hundreds of billions of stars," he informs as my jaw drops.

"That's huge!" I babbled as Hades chuckled. "In human terms, it's ten to the twenty-second power."

"Woah! Ten to the twenty-second power!" Apollon giggles, as Dionysus looks at him. "Do you even understand what that is?"

We all chuckle at Apollon's confused face. Yui goes to help Hades with his telescope when a big, fat raindrop lands on the back of my neck.

Looking up at the once clear skies, the clouds had rolled in as warm rain began to drizzle down.

Hades stands up with a sigh, as I pump my fist. "Alright guys! I'm about to show you the coolest human invention for rainy days!"

Everyone looks at me with a confused expression as I pull out what appeared to be a lengthy tarp.

"This is called a slip and slide! When water gets on it, it gets all slippery," I explain as I unfold it, spreading the tarp to form the slide, "and you slide on it!"

"Good thing we brought our suits!" The gods chime in as clothes fly, revealing the suits they had on at the beach. Mimicking them, I reveal the black bikini I wore. The pattering of rain ontop of the slip and slide was drowned out by our crows of happiness.

"Boys, this is how it's done," I inform, backing up, and with a running start I dive onto the tarp, rolling off it at the end.

Standing up and running back over, everyone gets on the slip-and-slide but Yui and Hades. Turning back to them, I wave them over.

"Come on Hades and Yui!" I shout, as everyone else shouts for them to come over.

"Uncle Hades, we even packed you a swim suit," Dionysus smirks, holding up a tiny speedo. "Dionysus!" I giggle as I step closer to the slip-and-slide, elbowing him slightly. He elbows me back with a laugh, but he elbowed me a bit too hard as I fell back and started sliding back on the slip-and-slide.

"Oh no!" I laugh, as Balder looks at me. "I'll come help you, Margo!" He shouts, as begins to run. "No, Balder, it's fine, watch out!" I yell back as he slips on the slide, tumbling down to land on top of me.

"Oops," he laughs, and I watch as Apollon's eyes grew big. "I'll help you, Bal-Ba-OH NO!" Apollon runs to us as he slips, dog piling on top of Balder, pushing me down.

"Is this a human tradition to do?" Tsuk asks, sliding down and landing next to us, before proceeding to dogpile on us further.

"Oh my god!" I laugh out, as everyone's heads turn to me.

"Yes?" They chime.

I laugh harder at their reaction, a big, giant belly-laugh. I snort slightly, as everyone starts laughing.

"D-did you _*hic*_ just s-snort?" Dionysus asks, as I laugh more with another snort. Hades chuckled as the rain stopped and the starry sky reappeared.

"Well, won't you look at that," I beamed, looking at the sky as I wiped away a laugh-tear. "The stars came back out."

"And they seem to be even more beautiful," Apollon replies as they start to get off me. But I lay there on top of that tarp, enjoying the night view.

* * *

 **A/N at the end of this chapter.**

 **I believe Takeru's behavior needs to be explained. Though he kinda has a frenemy relationship with Margo, he hates Loki 10x more. So, when everyone is ganging up on Loki, Takeru's going to use this chance to be mad at Loki.**


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm so out of shape," I huff, breathing heavily. Today I had decided to take a break from exploring the attic and went for a run, like I used to do.

Taking a swig of water, I begin my warm-down lap, taking the short path in the forest to the clearing. Suddenly hearing a rustling coming from my side about halfway through the forest, I hide behind a tree, poking my face out.

I look upon Takeru, who's swinging a stick around, before suddenly stopping and sniffing the air, looking around with an angry look in his eyes.

"Ehh? Who's there?! I can hear your constipated breathing and your dog-like smell!" He grunted, and I gasp, stepping out and crossing my arms.

"For your information, I just went on a 3 mile run for the first time since I came here! And it's not a dog smell, it's something called sweat," I lectured, and Takeru scoffed.

"It's only Butter, I see," he rolls his eyes before going back to swinging his stick around.

"Only Butter? What does that mean?" I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Ugh, whatever, seaweed-brain," I grumble, as he looks up.

"Rude!" He remarks, throwing his stick at me.

"Eek!" I duck as the stick goes over my head. Looking pointedly at the blue haired asshole in front of me, I gesture to the stick.

"What was that for?!"

"Fetch."

"Why would I do that?" I mused, and he smirks.

"Because you're a bitch," he points out, causing me to cross my arms and quirk a brow.

"And?"

"And a bitch is a female dog-"

"I know what bitch means!" I take my water bottle and squirt it as his crotch, creating a dense, dark grey spot on his pants.

He looked at me, anger blazing in his eyes. "You're a jerk!" I finish, lightly unscrewing the top of the battle before throwingit at his head. He narrowly avoids it, but the lid pops off and pours water on him anyway. I laugh, before I burst off into a sprint away from the jerk.

* * *

"Alright, Margo, if we're going to get back to where we were we gotta start training again, including getting up at the crack of dawn to run," I mutter to myself as I tuck in my earbuds, pressing the play button on my iPod.

I had figured out that I can charge my iPod by holding it up to my ear by the scythe earring wrap. I mused that it must be because of the electrical or magical frequencies that radiate off of it to keep it on my ear, but I don't care about the logistics.

My iPod is charged, and that means I can listen to music!

Pressing play as I stepped out of the dormitory, the first beats of "Feel it Still" by Portugal the Man began to play.

Taking off in a jog along the path, I tuck the iPod into my thin jacket pocket, zipping it up so it doesn't fall off.

 _"Can't keep my hands to myself._ _Think I'll dust 'em off, put 'em back up on the shelf,"_ the singer starts as I look over at the trees of the forest as the sunrise begins to peak over them.

 _"In case my little baby girl is in need...Am I coming out of left field?"_ Here comes the best part of the song!

"Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, now! I been feeling it since 1966, now-"

"Why are you screeching, Butter?" A muffled voice asks, as I put my earbuds on pause, turning to see a Takeru in running clothes stopping behind me.

"I'm listening to music for your information, sea-weed brain," I grumble, as he rolls his eyes. "Whatever, can you move faster? Your elephant-ass is going slow and I can't pass it without running into it."

My jaw drops, as I place my hands on my hips. "This is the ass of men's dreams, for your information! Besides, it's not my fault you're slow," I smirk as his eyebrows twitch.

"Well, I'm just gonna pass you now!" He shouts out as he starts running towards me. "Eek!" I semi-shout, turning on my heels and running, pressing the play button on my earbuds as the chase begins.

 _"Might be over now, but I feel it still,_ _Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, now!_ _Let me kick it like it's 1986, now,_ _Might be over now, but I feel it still..."_

* * *

At the end of the 5 mile route ending in front of the school dorms, I had barely beat Takeru.

He was literally a foot behind me, and the only reason I pulled ahead was because I threw a stick at his head. Karma. I was breathing heavily, practically chugging the water bottle as Takeru copied my actions.

"Do I _*wheeze*_ have to deal with you _*wheeze*_ every morning run?" I ask, putting my hands on my knees as Takeru scoffed.

"Consider it a blessing, just being in my presence!"

"God, you're so self-centered," I grumble, throwing the empty water bottle at his head, bouncing off of it slightly. He yelps slightly, pointing at the crumbled bottle angrily as he steps vigorously and repeatedly on it.

"What was that for?!" He rumbles, as I shrug. "It's a well known fact you put trash in the garbage can."

"...I'm going to strangle you!" He shouts, running at me with a burst of energy. Quickly sprinting back to my dorm, I slam the door on him just as his body hit it.

It was a battle for power: Me trying to keep him out, and him trying to get in.

"What's all this ruckus?" Melissa asks, approaching me at the door with a towel wrapped around their head, a towel also wrapped around their waist. "Help me keep out the seaweed-brained boy, Melissa!" I shout, as Melissa starts pushing against the door.

Takeru put a bit more strain into it, and just as he was about to push us completely back-

"Mr. Totsuka, what are you doing trying to get into the girls' dorms?" Thoth's voice was heard as Takeru abruptly stopped pushing on the door, and Melissa and I finally closing the door.

"Thank the gods that's ove-" Melissa starts, but I make a shushing noise, pressing my ear against the door.

"Uh, it was Margo-"

"Do we need to have a talk, Mr. Totsuka?" Thoth asks with a sigh.

"N-no," Takeru starts, stumbling over his words.

"I have a book for you," Thoth starts, as the rustling of clothes is heard. Standing up and looking through the doorhole, I watched as Takeru took a brown, worn-out book with a mysterious stain on its cover.

" _'Why am I sweaty?'_ " He reads the book title as I nearly gag, knowing about the horrible boys puberty-book from my time in Spain. He flips through the book, eyes widening.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"I'm afraid not, you see," Thoth says, as he begins to lead Takeru away. "The human, teenage-boy body is an odd thing..."

Snorting out a laugh as I watched them walk away, I backed away from the door and to the shower before attending class that day.

* * *

 _"Got another mouth to feed, l_ _eave her with a baby sitter, mama, call the grave digger. G_ _one with the fallen leaves,_ _Am I coming out of left field?"_ I had barely gotten past these words when the thundering of feet sounded behind me. Turning around just in time to see a blue haired boy tackle me into a pile of leaves, him pinning me to the ground. My earbuds fell out as my cheeks dusted pink for a moment, the only thing I could see was Takeru's face as his big forehead blocked out the sun.

"What was that for?" I groan, resting my head back so his face wasn't as close as it currently was.

"Thoth made me read that horrible book yesterday because he thought I was sneaking into your dorm!" He complained, and I giggled.

"Well, you were."

"No I wasn't!"

"Was too!"

"Was too!" He repeated, trying to get me to switch my words, but I shrugged.

"Thanks for admitting to it-" I reply, pushing him off me as I stand up, grabbing my earbuds. Looking at Takeru, who had landed in the leaf pile, I smiled slightly.

"This kinda reminds me about growing up, y'know?" I mention, and Takeru looks up in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Have you ever jumped in leaf piles as kids? It was so much fun, and it frustrated my Papa a lot, too," I recollect, remembering the warm hues of fall. "Then I'd come inside, and my Mama would dust off my shoulders, plucking the leftover leaves from my hair. I'd have a runny nose from the excitement and the cold, and then she'd bring me apple cider to warm me up..."

"Psh, we obviously come from different ways of growing up," he grumbles. "Who would jump in leaves for fun?"

"Well, you're missing out on a lot...stand up, you big goon," I announced, as he slowly stood up, backing away from the leaf pile.

"Now, help me push the leaves into a pile." Bending down, I scoop some runaway leaves and toss them into the pile, Takeru hesitantly mimicking me. After a few minutes, we look at the massive pile we created.

"What do we do now?" He grunts, "This seems like a time waster."

"We jump now!" I exclaim, grabbing Takeru's hand and wrapping my fingers around his, pulling us back a few steps. "Let's go, seaweed brain!"

I start running, dragging Takeru behind me until he catches up and we're running side by side. At the same time we both jump into the pile with a small _OOMPF_ , and I laugh at how some leaves get in Takeru's mouth.

He coughs, sputtering them out, and I roll my eyes. I notice how our hands are still held together, and I arch a brow.

"Takeru?"

"Yes?"

"We're still holding hands," I point out. He's still holding on pretty tightly.

He quickly let go, blushing slightly at the realization, which caused me to snicker slightly. Ever so slightly, I reach my free hand over to him.

"Butter, what are you doing?" He asks, as I pluck a orange-red maple leaf from his hair.

"This was in your hair, goofball," I chuckle, passing it to him, and he looks at it.

"It's always spring where I'm from," he quietly notes, which is unlike him. "Even when it's winter, the sakuras always bloom fully."

"Do you like it like that?" I ask, sitting up criss-cross style.

"I...I don't know anymore."

* * *

"It's strange, because it's only halfway through August, yet the leaves are browning." I comment on the warm-down walk with Takeru, "It's usually another month or so before they are officially dead. The weather here is so weird..."

"Yeah, and with Zeus the weather will be a shitstorm," Takeru adds, and I laugh. "Don't say that, he might take it literally."

Takeru snorts, "Yeah, I can see him doing that." We walked in silence for a few moments more.

"So, have you decided to join a club yet?" I ask, and he shrugs. "I don't even care about going to school, really, but I don't want Thoth on my back anymore."

"I can see that," I agree, "why don't you just join Iaido? I remember you told me you liked it, and Yui is in it..."

"Psh, I don't want to deal with the weed," he grumbles, and I roll my eyes. "You didn't want to deal with me at first, but we're chums now, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," he admits with a sigh, and I smile. "Good! Or you can do track and field?" I ask, and he thinks.

"That's the running sport, right?"

"Yep," I reply, "you can run all you want."

"That takes the fun out of it, having to do it mandatory. I'd do the go-home-club, but _Loki_ is there."

Takeru doesn't like Loki at all, which is pretty obvious why. I mean, they're two completely different elements, so it would take a naive person who thinks the world is all sunshine and rainbows for them to be friends.

Which is Yui, but she gave up when Loki poured red glitter glue fire on all of Takeru's books.

"Well, just make up your own club, then! I'm in the broken-arm-club, but that's not a thing," I revealed, and Takeru looked puzzled.

"What do you do in your club?"

"Mostly read," I lie, not wanting to reveal how I roam the halls, looking for new passageways. I even think I found a way to the basement, but I haven't tried it out yet...

"Bor-ing!" Takeru sighs, "I'll just join that stupid Iaido club." I grin, knowing that Takeru has made progress.

"Woo!"

* * *

 **NEXT DAY**

"Ugh, it's raining," I grumble, pinning my hair back with a headband as I finish zipping up my taxi-cab colored raincoat, shoving an extra poncho in my pocket. I haven't ran in the rain here before, and I don't know if Takeru will want a poncho or not. Besides, I also wasn't going to listen to music today, since I would probably not be able to hear anything over the pounding of the rain.

It's a safety hazard, you know?

Stepping out as the pellets of rain start plip-plopping on my hood, I take off in a steady-jog that was equivalent to my running-speed a month ago. Looking around at the entrance of the forest, I sigh. Takeru usually waits for me at the entrance for a few minutes so we run together, but he might've bailed or not waited for me.

Either way, he didn't tell me and that's an asshole move. Rolling my eyes, I take off in a jog again. Running to the path where the river flowed down it (the usual path I take), I look across the bend to see Takeru running without a coat on.

What an idiot!

"Hey, seaweed brain!" I shout over the rain, grabbing a tree branch as I lean to shout it. He looks over at me as I wave my free arm wildly around.

"What are you doing? It's raining!" He shouts back, and I roll my eyes.

"No shit! I'm mad you ditched me, but I got you a poncho anyway!" I reach into my pocket, unintentionally taking a step forward. Takeru's eyes widen in realization, as he holds out a hand.

"Get back!" He shouts, "Get back from the edge!"

Looking down, I notice how I'm on the edge of the cliff, and my eyes widen. "Shit, I'm sorry!" I shout back, taking a step back. The grass was slick, and I unintentionally fell, starting a chain reaction of rocks falling.

Holding on tight to the branch, I drop the poncho quickly, grabbing onto the branch with both hands now.

"Margo!" He shouts, finally using my name, "I'm coming!"

He backed up, preparing to jump, and my eyes widened. "Don't do it, seaweed brain!" I strain as I pull myself up onto the branch. "I'll climb the tree, and it will be alright!"

"Alright?" He echoes, as I stare into his golden eyes from where I was hanging. Giving him a smile, I confirmed his question.

"I'll be alright."

 _CRACK!_

The branch in my hands was useless now, as it had broken from the tree. Blinking slightly, I watched as Takeru's eyes widened as time seemed to slow down.

"Margo!" He shouts, jumping after me, and I give him a smile as I close my eyes.

So this is how I die, huh?

There was no need for screaming, I don't want to go out like a baby. I'll handle this calmly and confidently, hoping for the best for whatever happens next.

"Damn it!" He shouts, barely hearable over the pounding of my heart in my ears. A sudden blow glow is visible from behind my eyelids, and a pair of warm, muscular arms wrap around me.

Damn, heaven is pretty amazing with these muscle-men...

Opening my eyes, expecting to see clouds and little angels or whatever, I'm still staring at a grey sky.

One thing suddenly occurred to me at the same time from this point.

1) I'm not dead.

Almost as if on cue, the clouds began to part as a concerned-looking Takeru entered my vision, worry laced into his eyes. He seemed... different.

"Margo!" He shouts, and I wince, ears ringing.

"When did you lose your shirt and get those weird highlights?" I mumble, and he chuckled.

"I guess you're alright," he replies, "but no matter what, I'll always protect you."

"Wait, so who's the muscular man holding me?" I ask, looking around and rubbing my eyes to see I was in _his_ arms. Blushing even more as he laughed harder, setting me down.

"You're pretty clumsy," he states, and I roll my eyes. "Not my fault you didn't bring a poncho, you could have gotten sick from the rain since you have a human body!"

"But my divine powers have returned!" He announces, and I look him up and down.

"Can't your divine powers give you a shirt?" I ask cheekily, and he scoffed.

"That's no way to think your savior!" He sticks his tongue out, and I laugh.

"Alright, thank you for saving me," I reassured, looking him in the golden eyes as they flashed with happiness.

 **"SUSANOO TAKERU."**

"What's that!?" Takeru choked out, as a golden light flooded us. He quickly wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tight to his chest as the golden light faded to reveal us in the room we were in when we first came here.

Zeus walked down in his red snuggie as a golden hue surrounded Takeru, lifting him off the floor. "Takeru?!" I ask, reaching for him, but he was already out of reach.

"You destroyed the shackles I have given you," Zeus lectures, amber gaze falling on Takeru, "and used your divine powers. This is a serious offence, and you will be suspended until you repent."

Another anklet appeared around Takeru's ankle, turning him back to a normal person without weird hair highlights and gave him a shirt. A golden globe-like cage surrounded Takeru, preventing him from leaving.

"Hey! Let me out!" Takeru bellowed, hitting his cage.

"Unable to control-"

"LISTEN UP, MR. SNUGGIE WEARING ZEUS!" I shout, stamping my foot down. Zeus turned his gaze towards me, arching a brow.

"How dare you, a _human_ , interrupt me?"

"More like how dare you, a _god,_ here to help us understand _emotion,_ do this to someone?!" I gesture towards Takeru's cage as the door behind me opened, but I payed no mind to it. "Takeru doesn't need to repent for feeling emotions! I fell from a cliff because I slipped from a tree branch and fell off a cliff. How is this Takeru's fault?! He saved me from dying! Dying! That may not seem like a big deal to a god who made this world, but I don't have as much godly power as you do!"

"Human girl, stop-"

"NO!" I roared, "Takeru's shackle broke off because he wished to save me. He felt that emotion, the one to save someone! If he is to be punished for that, shouldn't we all be punished for feeling any emotion? This is the complete opposite of why you brought us here!"

"Leave!" Zeus booms, as footsteps sound.

"Pearl's right! The class wouldn't be the same without Take-Take," Apollon urged, as Yui steps forward. "Margo wouldn't lie about this, Mr. Zeus!"

Turning around, I see all the classmates looking forward with determined eyes.

"Zeus!" I chorused, turning back around to face him. "We all feel the same, it's clear as day! They are learning about humans, and if you do this to Takeru, you're basically reversing everything we've ever done."

"Are you defying me, _human?"_ he emphasizes, and I arch a brow.

"Of course I am! You are the one who understands humans the least!" I retort, "Learn from us, and learn how to study humans more closely instead of sitting on your throne all day! Humans constantly rise above the odds and their mistakes, trying harder each time to do what they want! They save their friends, trust in them, and build bonds! They save their friends in trouble, are a shoulder to cry on, and...and..." I pause, trying to find the right words.

"...and that's humanity! That's what it is to be human!" I finish, the room going deathly quiet. Everyone looks at me in shock, even Zeus, as I stare Zeus down.

"You knew this'd happen," Hades says quietly, as Zeus looks down for a beat, but it was enough.

Zeus is a complete and utter arsehole.

"Susanoo Takeru, continue your studies," Zeus taps his staff on the ground once, dropping Takeru to the floor from his golden cage. Running to him and dropping to the ground beside him, I wrap my arms around him tightly, and he hesitantly wraps them back.

"I don't know what I'd do without you, seaweed brain. You're one of my closest friends," I sniffle, tears prickling my eyes as his hug tightens.

"Yeah." His voice was quiet and soft, unlike how it normally is, reminding all of us that we could all crack.

* * *

"Margo?" Tsuk asked me after class the next day as I had begun to pack up. Looking at him, I noticed we were the only two there.

"Oh, hey Tsuk, what's up?" I asked, and he gave me a short nod.

"I am faring well. I'd like to thank you for helping my brother remain at the school," he calmly states, and I give a smile.

"It's no big deal, I'm glad he's staying."

"It was the same as before, but this time you helped him without doubt. That is why I am thankful," he explains, and I arch a brow.

What does he mean by before?

"Did this happen previously?" I asked, and Tsuk gave a nod.

"When we were young, there was a goddess who fell from a cliff right before Tosuka Takeru's eyes."

My mouth opened slightly, realizing that I must've triggered something within Takeru when I fell.

"She was a kind goddess, who looked after him since his birth. When Totsuka Takeru tried to save her, he was too young and weak to get her in time. Those who saw it misunderstood, believing that Totsuka Takeru had pushed the goddess off the cliff. Though he insisted it wasn't true, due to his uncouth nature nobody believed him, and Totsuka Takeru was isolated. And people had doubted him since then, making it hard for him to trust people."

My eyes flickered to the ground for a moment, realizing that's why Takeru uses his gruff exterior to stand up for himself. If I wasn't rescued by Takeru, he would fear that no one would ever trust him again.

Glancing back up, I saw Tsuk had already left the room, and I was alone once more.

I went back to my dorm and fell into a deep sleep, and the next thing I knew I was sick; so I can't attend school that day or go to the Moon Viewing party. Oh well, I hope everyone has fun. I rested in bed for a bit, and during the Moon Viewing Party, I climbed up into the attic, and sat in front of a large window. A Sprite was in one hand, a bowl of chicken soup in my other.

"Happy Moon Viewing Party," I sniffle out, taking a sip of the broth as I watched my friends congregate. I look beyond them towards the fields, watching fireflies darting in and out. Suddenly, fireworks went off, as my attention was drawn to them. I watched them for a bit, before my gaze lowered back to my friends.

It seemed as if Balder's head was turned slightly in my direction...no, that can't be possible, I'm too far away to be seen. I continued watching until I went back to my room for bed.


	6. Chapter 6

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," I hum lightly, looking at the crumpled pile of yarn next to me at the foot of the staircase. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to knit for the life of me. Yui was humming lightly as well to a Japanese Christmas song, her red scarf trailing down perfectly.

"Bah humbug," I groan, kicking the yarn away from me. Yui looks up, confusion in her eyes. "Why aren't you running with Takeru?" she asks, as I chuckle, looking over at him as he runs past, nearly slipping in ice.

"I ordered a treadmill for inside during the winter season. Who knows how long this season will last, with Zeus' constant PMS mood swings?" I ask with a sigh. "Seaweed brain might have to take a running break if he can't figure out how to run during the weather."

Across the way, we watched as Loki pelted a snow ball at Takeru, Thor watching on dully. Takeru angrily turned around, angry shouts muffled in the distance. The two began to engage in a snowball fight, as I shake my head, a light smile falling on my face.

"I think they're more friends than they realize," I wonder aloud, as the doors open from behind us, Hades stepping out, and a bask of warmth coming from the heated inside.

"Woah, look at all this snow," he comments. "Winter snowfall is _snow_ joke."

Yui winces lightly at his bad pun while I laugh a bit. " _Snow_ kidding?" I retort, as Yui shakes her head, a light smile on her face. "You both need to _chill_ out."

I laugh more, while Hades merely shakes his head, a faint smile on his face.

"I don't get it," Tsuk admits, walking up beside Hades. "Why do you keep repeating winter-related words?"

"They're puns," Yui tries to explain, but notices only a blank look on his face. "Uh...nevermind."

A snowball suddenly splats against my head, and I whip my head around to see a cackling Loki.

"Ah! Sorry Margo!" Takeru apologizes as I stand up, rolling up my sleeves.

"You're both going to get it!" I laugh out, a fake angry expression on my face as I dig my hands into the snow, before whipping oblong snowballs at the gods. While they try to dodge it, they forget I have younger siblings and have mastered the art at snowball throwing.

Let's say that the two had to head inside to dry off not long after. However, I was pretty chilly as well, and knew Melissa liked their alone time in the house. Brushing the snow off my hands, I went back up the stairs and stomped my shoes free of snow on the carpet, before heading through the halls, damp footprints trailing behind me on red carpet.

Quickly ducking into the library, I wind towards the back, where two plush, overstuffed leather armchairs sit facing a roaring fireplace. I take off my blazer, draping it over my left arm as I walk towards the seat. Glancing over, I see a tanned boy already crouched in the chair, hunched over a mummified doll.

"Hello?" I ask, as wide purple eyes look up at me in confusion, which morphs into fear as he scrambles back. "Wait! Please don't go, I only wish to warm myself by the fire-" I'm stopped midsentence, sighing to myself at how he's already ran off. "Great, I chased him off," I mutter sarcastically, hearing a sigh from behind me.

"Miss Margo, no need to fret," Thoth comments. "I was just about to take Anubis outside so he can play in the snow."

"I feel bad for chasing him off, though-"

'Don't be." Thoth's blue eyes were stony, staring straight at me. "He's...how may I put this? A bit of an introvert around new people."

Only _a bit?_

"I see..." I trail off. "Um, please make sure he has a coat if he's going into the snow, then. I can only assume he was humanized as well."

Thoth nods slightly. "Very well." He turned around, sashaying away as Anubis bound up to him, walking at his side. Sighing to myself, I look at the bookshelf, picking out a random book.

 _A Study in Scarlet._ This will be an interesting read. Sitting down, I begin reading, immersing myself in the world of Sherlock Holmes.

"Margo?"

I glance back, seeing Balder standing there, a stack of books on a tray beside him.

"Oh, hey Balder!" I greet, waving slightly.

"What are you doing? And...why are you slightly wet?" he asks, glancing at my damp hair. I laugh, standing up and twirling.

"I got pelted with snowballs," I inform, glancing at my book. Page 120, got it. Closing it entirely, I put it under my arm, now turning my gaze to his trolley. "What's with all the holiday books?"

"For the student council, all of these books will help with the cultural festival," he informs. "I was just about to check them out. Do you want to come along?"

"Sure!" I nod, grabbing my blazer and folding it over my arm. We leave the quiet library, soon entering the halls.

"Anything interesting happening in your book right now?" he asks, as I smile. "It's getting started, the two have only just moved in together-"

The pounding of feet sounded through the halls, as hundreds of boy and girl student spirits rushed through the halls, calling out to Balder.

"Didn't know there was a fan club offered here," I mutter under my breath, as I'm immediately pushed from the circle. Everyone about me clamored for Balder's attention.

"I apologize, everyone, but I'm busy with student council work-" Balder apologizes, only to be immediately cut off with offers of help. The people began arguing among themselves, as I crawled through their legs.

"Psst! Down here!" I whisper to Balder, motioning for him to follow me out. He slides me the books, and I quickly exit with him in tow. Quietly, we sneak from the crowd, running down the hallway until we reach an abandoned room.

"Phew! What a workout," I joke, wiping fake sweat from my forehead.

"Are you okay?" he asks, grabbing my hands, worry laced in his eyes. "Huh? I'm fine," I respond, and he sighs in relief. "Good, if anything bad happened to you, I'll take responsibility."

"You don't have to do that," I inform. "I'm a bit clutzy myself, which is my own fault. What about you, are you alright?"

Happiness glows from his eyes, as he smiles. "I'm fine, I can't get hurt. Long ago, my mother made a promise with all of creation, save for the mistletoe, to do me no harm."

"So...you hurt yourself instead," I finish, and his smile turns sad. "Yes, that's what I do."

His gaze suddenly turns serious. "You...you really are a strange girl, Margo."

What does that mean?

"Ever since we met, it seems like I have no effect on you. Why is that?" he asks, still holding my hands.

"I have no idea what you mean," I laugh awkwardly.

"As the god of light, I subconsciously charm everyone around me. They're like a moth to a flame. But you," he leans forward, face closer to mine now, "you have not changed, and see me for who I really am. You're special."

"Huh?"

"I feel very comfortable by your side." His blue eyes were directly in front of my grey eyes now, staring deeply into me, grip tightening. "I wish I could stay here forever."

I clear my throat, pulling away a bit. "I...I don't know what to say," I say, telling him the truth. "Thank you for telling me your true feelings, Balder."

He smiles, nodding. "Thank you for hearing me out."

"So...uh, let's get these books to the student council?" I ask, gesturing to the books on the windowsill. "Everyone might be waiting on it..."

"Right." He nods, as he carries the books to the room, and I trail awkwardly besides him. It was a bit creepy, I'm not going to lie. But the fuckboy nature was now explained, and it seemed like he was just a sweet guy who was just living life.

* * *

"We're not going to burn a tree, Apollon, that's a huge fire hazard," Yui informs, a nervous expression on her face. He groans, "Why not?"

"Why don't we have the Christmas market based off of region's mythology? Everyone's from the same region as their dorm mates, aside from Yui and I."

"I work with Yui and Takeru, then," Tsuk comments, as Apollon grins. "Heck yeah! I'm super pumped!"

"What about you? Aren't you American?" Yui asks, and I shrug. "I'll just do it by myself, no problem."

"Meeting concluded, then!" Apollon announces, as we all rise, going off in separate directions. I take my blazer, now dry, and put it back on, as Balder remains in class with me, leaning against the doorframe.

"Why would you suggest a method that would break us apart?" he asks, and I arch a brow. "I beg your pardon?"

"By forming groups off of regional mythology! I want to be by your side always and to always look upon you!" His brows crinkle in innocent worry, as I look back.

"Uh..."

"In my heart, I have counted every time you have spoken or smiled at me," he declares, clenching his hand over his heart. "Every single time the sun illuminates your hair in a bask of light." His expression becomes slightly angrier, "And you robbing me of these moments is a crime!"

What is going on?!

He steps closer, grabbing me by the wrist tightly. "As punishment, you will dine with me every day from now on," he boldly states, face deadly serious. Suddenly, a light smile appears on his face. "Come on, then! Let's get dinner."

He began pulling me from the room, as flashbacks of the past overcame my conscious.

"Hey Balder, can you chill for a moment-?"

"Balder!" A voice rings out, as I feel a hand push me from Balder's grasp, and I look back to see that Loki has pushed us away. "Where have you been, Balder?"

Balder ignores his question, demanding he apologizes to me, before he looks my way.

"Margo, you're shaking, are you okay?" he asks, as I hold up my hand, noticing it's shaking. "Oh, I'm fine, just a bit cold," I lie, giving a tight smile.

"The dining room will warm you up-" Balder steps forward, but I step back, shaking my head. "I'm super cold. My blazer is still a bit chilly from the snow. I'm... going to head back to my dorm and warm up a bit."

"Bye~" Loki waves as I quickly walk away, feeling Balder's stare upon my back. I quickly head back to my dorm, climbing up into the attic space with lots of blankets. I pile them over my, burrowing into a hole.

 _He can't get you here._

* * *

"Breakfast time! Look! Barbecued breakfast sausage," Balder grins, pointing at his meal. I had been roped into sitting next to Balder at breakfast, with Loki glaring daggers at me diagonally.

"That looks good," I smile, eating my toast diligently.

"You don't have any meat on your plate," he frowns, holding out a piece of sausage he cut up. "Say 'ah!'"

"Huh?" I look up at him, only to get a piece of sausage in my mouth. I quickly prevent myself from choking by grabbing the fork, pulling it from my mouth.

"Mmm, delicious," I comment from behind my hand, chewing on the savory meat. Loki looked shell shocked.

"He...gave you his sausage?!"

Well, that sounds a lot dirtier out of context.

"What have you done to Balder?! What powers do American gods have?!" he asks, slamming his hands into the table. "We deserve answers!"

"American gods?" I ask, laughing slightly. "There are no American gods, first and foremost, and I'm not a god."

"Huh?"

"I'm a human, just like Yui," I continue, taking a bite of my toast.

"What?!" he asks, completely bamboozled.


End file.
